Matchmaker
by Smart Aleckette
Summary: They didn't need a matchmaker to tell that they were meant to be. Especially not a fake one. Sequel to Overdue. Maya x Phoenix. ::COMPLETE::
1. Fey Manor

**After an incredibly length vacation, I wrote a whopping total of one and a half chapters. This is pathetic, even by my standards. XDD**

**So, this basically takes place about six months after Overdue. It's from Maya's and Trucy's point of view this time around, not like Phoenix's and Apollo's last time. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I'm afraid this may result in OOCness. -crosses fingers-**

**If I blow the sequel, as people so often do with books, movies, fics, etc., you have full permission to flame me. I would deserve it thoroughly.**

**Disclaimer: I don't have enough imagination to have anything to do with the creation of Phoenix Wright.**

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**Chapter 1**

**Fey Manor**

"Mystic Maya, how many more minutes until the train arrives?" Pearl asked anxiously, pacing up and down the train platform as rain pounded the steel roof overhead. Her older cousin, Maya, looked up from the magazine she was holding upside down, which was titled Oh! Cult!, and checked her watch.

"Five minutes," she answered her younger cousin, trying not to let her own nervousness show.

Pearl stopped her pacing and stood facing Maya, hugging herself with worry. "They _are_ coming, right, Mystic Maya?" she asked, biting her lip. "Nothing. . . nothing's happened, has it?"

Maya felt her stomach sink, as it had done so many times in the past twelve hours, and picked up her pink cell phone, which lay next to her on the park bench she was sitting on. She flicked the cell phone open and checked the "Missed Messages" button. There were none.

"Well, Nick hasn't called to say they aren't coming, so I guess they are," she reassured Pearl, who nodded, though without much conviction, and began pacing again.

Maya set the phone down next to her and picked up her magazine again, realized it was upside down, and turned it so that it was right side up again. However, she couldn't distract herself with any of the articles in the magazine, not even "The Dos and Don'ts of Spirit Channelling", which looked fairly interesting. Giving up, she tossed the magazine aside and picked up her cell phone again, staring at it and hoping it wouldn't ring.

She and her seventeen-year-old cousin, Pearl, were waiting for the eleven-thirty train to pull into the station. In fact, they were the only ones there. They would have stuck out in a crowd, though, with their spirit medium costumes, the magatamas hanging around their necks, and, in Maya's case, the black robes and red talisman that signified that she was the Master of Kurain, though people just stared at her when she went into the city like she was crazy.

"How many more minutes?" Pearl asked again, still pacing. Maya glanced at her watch.

"Four and a half," she answered with a grin. "Relax, Pearly. They're coming!"

Pearl seemed to believe her, because she smiled a little at her cousin. As soon as she looked away, though, Maya's face fell and she looked back down at her phone. She really didn't believe her words; she was nervous, and she had every right to be.

If Maya was right, which she didn't think she was, the next train would be bringing her boyfriend, Phoenix Wright, his adopted daughter, Trucy, and Apollo Justice, defence attorney and, as Trucy claimed, the mascot for her talent agency. This was the fifth time they had tried to arrange such a visit, and Maya wasn't that keen for a fourth failure.

The first attempt had been around Christmas. Maya had invited the three of them to come to Kurain for the holidays, but at the last minute, Apollo was slapped with case that interfered with their plans. Trucy, his assistant, couldn't come either, and Maya, who was determined they all spend Christmas together, reversed the original travel plan and took the train with Pearl into the city instead.

The second try came in mid-January. The night before they were to arrive on the train, however, Trucy had come down with the flu. Apollo insisted, albeit feebly, that he could take care of Trucy and that Phoenix could go into Kurain, but when they called in the morning to explain their predicament, Maya told Phoenix to stay home with Trucy and that they would try again next week.

Unfortunately, the elders of Kurain had different ideas. They could hardly fail to notice that Maya was neglecting her duties as Master of Kurain. She was, theoretically, the most powerful spirit medium in the village, but she was busy going into the city to see Phoenix, whom they didn't approve of in the first place, and she wasn't paying enough attention to spiritual techniques.

When they heard about this new visit, therefore, they put their foot down. The elders booked a spiritual retreat at one of the mountain temples for the day of the visit and sent her there instead. Maya had not been pleased.

The fourth and final attempt came in March. Up until then, everyone had been too busy, Apollo with cases, Trucy with her nightly magic shows at the Wonder Bar, and Phoenix falling down several flights of stairs at the hotel where he pretended to play piano. He only stopped when he hit the wall at the bottom floor. Thankfully, he only broke his wrist, but he was still in the hospital for a few days.

Eventually, a day came where all of three of them were free. It would only be a one-day visit, but Maya, ecstatic that they were able to come, completely forgot her own schedule. Only on the eve of their trip did she remember she had two channellings the next day. In desperation, she called both of her clients, asking if they could postpone the appointments. Both refused.

After this, Maya gave up. Phoenix, who wasn't particularly eager to visit Kurain, didn't bring up the subject. It wasn't until last week, when Maya had brought Pearl along into the city with her on one of her bi-weekly trips to see Phoenix, did the topic emerge.

"That's so cool!" Trucy exclaimed after Pearl had described Fey Manor to her. Turning to Phoenix, she asked, "Hey, Daddy, can we go visit Pearl and Maya sometime?"

Phoenix, who was tying his shoe before going out for food with Maya, looked up, surprised. "Um. . ." he said, stalling for time.

"We don't mind. Right, Mystic Maya?" Pearl asked, appealing to her cousin.

"Um. . ." Maya echoed, her eyes flicking from Pearl and Trucy's eager faces to Phoenix, who was looking as if he'd wished the subject hadn't been brought up. "Sure. We'll talk about it tonight, okay?"

But at the word "Sure," Pearl and Trucy had their head together, instantly planning out their visit.

It was decided that, on the sixth of May, that Phoenix, Trucy, and Apollo would come to Kurain via train and stay for a week. Phoenix had been fired from his job at the hotel after breaking his wrist and Apollo was between cases at the moment, so Trucy had cancelled her shows at the Wonder Bar so that she could come as well.

However, Maya couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. Terribly wrong. Like the three of them missing their train and all of the tickets being sold on the others. Or the train derailing.

To Maya's relief, she realized that the train was chugging into the station just as the thought crossed her mind. She stood up uncertainly, waiting as the train stopped and the doors opened. She felt the bottom of her stomach drop away as a man wearing a pair of jeans, a gray hoodie, and bright blue beanie stepped out onto the platform, carrying two suitcases, one in each hand.

"Nick!" she cried, and launched herself across the platform. He saw her coming, grinned, and dropped his suitcases before she reached him and kissed him.

After a moment, a polite cough from behind Phoenix reminded them they were blocking the doorway. Stepping off to the side, Maya watched as Trucy, wearing her signature blue cape and matching top hat, and Apollo, with his typical red suit, step out onto the platform. Apollo was carrying a suitcase, but Trucy was empty-handed.

"Pearl!" Trucy cried, running at her friend and hugging her. "I haven't seen you in _forever_!"

". . . You saw each other last week," Apollo pointed out.

Trucy turned to look at him. "What's your point?" she asked.

Maya grinned and made to hug Apollo, but with a furtive glance at Phoenix, he stuck out his hand instead. Trying so hard not to laugh that she was shaking, she shook it, then stepped back. Phoenix put his arm around her shoulders and glared daggers at Apollo, who quickly interested himself with the ceiling. As soon as he had looked up, Phoenix looked sideways at Maya and grinned, evidently enjoying himself.

"I'm so glad you're here," Pearl said, looking immensely relieved. "I didn't think the three of you would make it."

"Four," Trucy corrected promptly.

Pearl stared at her, wide-eyed. "Four? There's no one else here. . ."

"You forgot–" Apollo groaned, interrupting Trucy, who ignored him. A wooden puppet unfolded itself from beneath her cape, sweeping her silk hat off her head and placing it on its own. "The Amazing Mr. Hat!" Trucy finished.

Pearl gave a start but, otherwise, took it well. Maya laughed and clapped – Mr. Hat was her favourite out of all of Trucy's tricks. Phoenix, who was used to this, seemed to shrug it off. Apollo glared at both Mr. Hat and Trucy, in much the same way as Phoenix had glared at him a few seconds ago.

"We'd better get going," he pointed out, still glaring as Trucy tucked away Mr. Hat and bowed in Maya's direction. "Come on." He crossed the platform and stepped out from beneath the shelter cast by the steel roof, and suddenly, all they could see of him was a red blob with horns sticking out of his head through the rain.

"Why doesn't Mr. Apollo like Mr. Hat?" Pearl asked Trucy in an undertone as they followed him into the pouring rain.

Trucy grinned at her but didn't reply.

The rain was so dense that it was hard to see where they were going. Pearl and Trucy had to run after Apollo, who had gone in the opposite direction by accident, and pull him back the way he had come, toward the manor. When he joined the others inside, his face matched his suit perfectly.

The room they were standing in was large. And empty, for that matter. The only thing of interest was a pair of heavy, locked doors at one end of the room. Trucy was looking longingly toward them, and Apollo, knowing her habit of picking locks, poked her in the back to keep following Pearl through another, unlocked door, leading to a long and narrow hallway lined with doors.

Maya turned to the first door on the left and opened it, announcing, "This is your room, Apollo!"

Apollo looked inside. There wasn't much to it; it was small, with some bedding laid out on the floor, a clothing box, and a window looking out into a small garden. Maya swore she saw the horns he moulded his hair into every morning droop as he tossed his suitcase inside.

"You and I are sharing a room, Trucy," Pearl explained. Trucy beamed.

"Let's go!" she said, and they set off down the hallway.

"Lunch is in half an hour!" Maya called after them. "Don't be late, or else the elders will be even grouchier than usual! They're very strict about visitors!" She glanced sideways at Phoenix, who was looking suddenly nervous. She knew that she wasn't referring to either Apollo or Trucy; she was talking about him. As a disgraced defence attorney, the elders didn't want Phoenix connected to Kurain Village in any way whatsoever, even though everyone knew that he was innocent of presenting false evidence in court, which had cost him his badge.

"Should you be yelling that around here?" Phoenix asked her in an undertone, looking over his shoulder cautiously, in case on of the elders was behind them.

Maya shrugged. "I guess not," she conceded. "Who cares, though? They're just elders."

Phoenix looked up at the ceiling, as if praying for patience.

Apollo glanced at the two of them, then turned around and ran down the hallway after Trucy and Pearl, deciding they wanted to be alone. Maya waited until he rounded the corner before opening the door across from Phoenix. "_This _is where you're sleeping, Nick!"

Phoenix looked inside. This room was slightly larger than Apollo's, though it had no window, but otherwise, it was exactly the same. He set his luggage down and sat down on the bedding. His face brightened.

"It's an improvement on my lumpy mattress," he said.

Maya leaned against the door, her arms crossed. He saw the expression on her face and sobered instantly. "You don't want to be here, do you?" she asked him.

Phoenix stood up and took time dusting off his jeans, evidently deliberating how to answer. At last, he said, "No, not really."

"Why not?"

Phoenix's eyes flicked past Maya, to the hall beyond the door, and then back to Maya again. "The last time I was here, someone died, and _you_ almost took the blame for it. That doesn't really invoke confidence for a return visit."

Maya grinned. "Yeah, but you defended me, and got me off the hook! No big deal, right?"

"No big deal," Phoenix muttered, just loudly enough so she could hear. "No big deal, she says with a smile on her face."

She shrugged. "It could have been worse, right? You could have totally bombed it and gotten me the death penalty. Then I would have been haunting you through Pearly!"

Phoenix closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "Could you at least, you know, _not_ smile like that and _not_ act all nonchalant when you say that?" he asked her. "That's like saying when you got kidnapped by DeKiller–"

A dry cough came from behind Maya. Phoenix blinked, looking surprised and wary. Maya gave a start but kept her smile in place as she turned around to face a tall, intimidating-looking woman with graying brown hair and a spirit medium costume beneath a set of pale gray elder's robes.

"Hello, Elder Mai," she said before turning to Phoenix. "This is Ni–I mean, Phoenix Wright. My, um. . ."

Her voice trailed away as she saw the look that Mai was giving Phoenix, like he was something disgusting on the bottom of her shoe, resting on the blue beanie and the black stubble on his chin. In an attempt to break the ice, Phoenix stepped forward, his hand outstretched, but she looked down at it coldly. After a few seconds, he withdrew it and stuck his hand in his pocket, giving her a frosty look.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wright," Mai said, though the tone of her voice said otherwise. She then turned to Maya, completely ignoring him. "We require your assistance for set-up for lunch."

Maya stared. She hadn't been asked to set up for a meal since before she had become Master. It just wasn't something that the Master was supposed to do. "But–"

Mai gave her a look almost as cold as she had given Phoenix. "There is plenty of time to speak with Mr. Wright _later_. Now, we require your help with setting up, Mystic Maya."

Before she could protest again, Mai turned on her heel and stalked off down the hallway. Maya turned to Phoenix and rolled her eyes at him. Then she saw the hurt look on his face, and her own expressions softened. "Trust me, Elder Mai is the worst of them," she reassured him. "She's the one who banned me from going into the city to see you when you lost your badge."

Phoenix winced. The subject of losing his badge was still sensitive.

"Sorry," she apologized. "_And_ she's the one who arranged that spiritual retreat in January that interrupted the visit. She–" She stopped, trying to think of how to phrase it.

"Hates me?" Phoenix suggested, looking both defiant and hurt by the cold reaction.

"Don't worry, she hates everyone," Maya reassured him.

"Mystic Maya!" called Mai from down the hallway.

Maya made a face at Phoenix. "See you at lunch," she said, backing out the door.

"Bye," he replied gloomily as she closed the door behind her.

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**. . . I am so hoping that this isn't terrible. -hides- This was literally the fourth version of the chapter, I was so paranoid.**

**So, next chapter, lunchtime! All I can say is, poor Apollo. . . XDD**


	2. The Elders

**Sorry for the wait – I've been feeling awful lately. Stupid colds. -_-**

**loveyourbiggestfan: Good; I've been worried about this fic. Now I can quit worrying. :)**

**sonicandlink: Sadly, yes. -pats Phoenix- Fortunately, except for meals, he won't see the elders too much.**

**And now, it's time for lunch. Joy.**

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**Chapter 2**

**The Elders**

Maya, Phoenix, Apollo, Trucy, Pearl, and the seven elders of Kurain Village sat at the long dinner table in silence, picking at the contents of their plates. All seven elders had their eyes fixed on Phoenix, who was looking extremely uncomfortable as he took a drink from one of the bottles of grape juice he had brought along with him. A couple, the more liberal ones (and therefore the ones that Maya actually liked), were smiling encouragingly at him, but if looks could kill, Phoenix would have been brutally murdered before he had even sat down.

After a moment, one of the smiling elders, Talia, set down her fork and asked Phoenix politely, "So, Mr. Wright, what have you been doing for the past seven years?"

Phoenix set down his bottle of grape juice, looking startled. "I. . . I've been playing piano," he replied, rather nervously.

Talia looked impressed, while several elders' faces softened upon learning of this musical talent. "Mystic Maya has never mentioned that you can play the piano," she said.

"I can't," Phoenix admitted, and he began to laugh, though it was induced by nerves, not because what he actually said was funny. The elders whose faces had softened hardened again.

There had been no change of expression on Mai's face. "I believe I read in the news that you also doubled as a poker player, and that someone died during one of your games. In fact, I believe you were charged for murder in that case," she said. It was amazing how polite her voice could sound when she was glaring at Phoenix with intense dislike.

Maya wanted to kick Mai. Hard. Unfortunately, while she had several privileges as Master of Kurain that most people did not, going around and kicking people who were deliberately needling her boyfriend were not among them.

An idea seemed to occur to Phoenix, however, because he smiled a little too innocently and said, "Ah, but you would also have read that we didn't play for money, and that I was cleared of all charges, all thanks to young Apollo here." He looked pointedly at Apollo, who was sitting across from him and looked suddenly alarmed at being dragged into the conversation.

Mai and the other elders turned to Apollo now. "Ah, so _you_ are Apollo Justice, the defence attorney?" she asked, her voice much warmer than it had been when she addressed Phoenix, who was eating his meal in peace now that everyone was concentrating on Apollo. Maya was trying very hard not to giggle at the look of relief on his face.

Apollo merely nodded, looking terrified. Trucy, who sat next to him, elbowed him in the ribs.

"Come on, Apollo!" she said bracingly. "Say something! Use those Chords of Steel!"

Apollo groaned.

Looking satisfied, Trucy turned back to her food.

"And this would be your assistant?" Mai asked Apollo.

"Yep! I'm Trucy Wright!" Trucy said, sparing Apollo the need to say anything.

"W-Wright?" Mai looked surprised. "You're. . . related to Mr. Wright?"

Phoenix looked up from his plate, alarmed, and Maya could see him crossing his fingers beneath the table that the conversation wasn't going to take the turn he expected it to.

Trucy nodded enthusiastically. "He's my daddy!"

"Y-Your daddy?" Mai repeated, and she looked as if she was doing some quick mental math. After a couple of seconds, she glared at Phoenix, obviously disgusted at the result she had come up with.

"He's not my real daddy," Trucy told Mai, realizing what the elder must have been thinking. "He just adopted me. My real daddy is Zak Graymarye."

Talia looked suddenly interested. "Graymarye?" she repeated, looking Trucy up and down. Then she smiled. "Ah, I see. That's one of the outfits that the Graymaryes wore."

Mai was looking at Trucy's clothes as well, though she looked, if possible, even more disgusted. Maya knew that appearances were a big thing with Mai, which, considering the clothes that were thought normal in Kurain Village, was a bit rich.

"Graymaryes?" she asked. "Magicians, I assume."

A look of indignation that this woman had never heard of Troupe Graymarye flashed across Trucy's face, but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Yep! And I'm the last Graymarye. I'm a professional!"

"And you're a year younger than Pearl?" Talia asked, looking amused.

Trucy nodded. "You want to see a trick?" she asked enthusiastically, reaching for the heart-shaped pouch she wore as part of her uniform. "I have my Magic Pan–"

Apollo accidentally-on-purpose knocked over Trucy's cup with his elbow as he reached for the salt. Maya ducked her head and grinned. She knew about Trucy's Magic Panties trick – she had spent the last six months wondering how it was done. And as much fun as it would be to see the look of horror on Mai's face when Trucy pulled out her panties, it wasn't worth the reaction she would get when Mai recovered from the shock of having underwear waved in her face.

"Apollo!" Trucy cried reproachfully as Pearl wordlessly picked up a napkin and began drying the puddle of juice on the table, looking as if she wasn't sure whether to laugh or glare at Apollo. "What was that for?"

Mai was nodding slightly, eyeing Trucy. "Hmm. A young professional, assistant to a renowned defence attorney. Much like Mystic Maya before she became the Master." Her eyes flickered to Phoenix. "Hopefully, Mr. Justice does not suffer the shame of being stripped of his badge."

Phoenix's head shot up at the not-so-subtle remark. Apparently, he had thought he was safe from yet another insult from the elder, but now, he looked like he was about ready to punch somebody. Maya noticed and quickly grabbed his knee, though she personally would have loved to hit Mai herself, and said quietly, so that no one else could hear, "Calm down, Nick. She's doing it on purpose. If you punched her, it would just add to the argument of why you shouldn't be allowed to be connected to Kurain Village any way whatsoever."

Phoenix relaxed, and he squeezed her hand with one of his own. "I know," he replied to her under his breath. "It's just. . . it's like the media all over again."

Maya looked into his face. He was looking upset, though he was doing his best to hide it from her. She knew that this hostility must be getting to him, but she couldn't tell Mai to stop. Not right now, anyway, as it would probably lead to a very loud shouting match. Instead, she gave him a sympathetic smile and turned back to her food, thinking that the rest of lunch would be the longest half hour of her life.

—_Trucy Wright—_

After lunch was finished, Pearl stalked down the hallway, leading the way to her room and pushing back both sleeves menacingly. Trucy shook her head as she watched her friend; she knew that, as soon as they were in Pearl's room, she would start a tirade against the elders for being so rude to Phoenix. Trucy couldn't blame her; a couple of them had been all right, but Mai had been incredibly rude.

They reached Pearl's room, they being Pearl, Trucy, and Apollo, who had decided the best plan of action was just to follow the two girls around so that he didn't get lost. Her room was a lot bigger than Apollo's. One wall was covered by a bookshelf that stretched from corner to corner and ceiling to floor, full of ancient-looking books and scrolls, all about spirit channelling. There were two sets of bedding laid out, one for Pearl and one for Trucy, along with two clothing boxes, a desk where Pearl worked while she was home-schooled, several enza cushions lying on the floor, and a window overlooking the same little garden that could be seen from Apollo's room. Apollo and Trucy sat down on the cushions, but Pearl slammed the door shut and started pacing up and down her room, looking furious.

"I can't believe the elders!" she cried heatedly. "How could they be so. . . so _cruel_ to Mr. Nick? He never did anything wrong, but they _still_ blame him! Ugh! I wish I could go up to the elders and give them a piece of my mind!"

Apollo stared at Pearl as if she'd grown an extra head. Apparently, he considered this yelling very un-Pearllike. "Why can't you give them a piece of your mind?" Apollo asked warily, edging toward the nearest set of bedding and the pillow that lay on top of it, in case she decided to take out her anger on him.

Pearl stopped pacing and glared at him witheringly. Apollo leaned away from her, looking alarmed. "Not even Mystic Maya can tell the elders that they're being too strict without getting yelled at. Even if they _are_ being too strict."

Trucy nodded, glaring at Apollo as well. "Yeah! Gee, Apollo, _you_ should know that!"

Apollo glared back at her. "I bet you didn't know it either," he pointed out. Then he turned to Pearl, albeit hesitantly, as if afraid that another question might set her off. "Um. . . what is the purpose of the elders, anyway?"

Pearl started pacing again. Apparently, the question wasn't offensive as the first one he had asked. "Well, there's always seven elders. They're all part of the branch family–"

"The what?" Apollo and Trucy asked in unison. Apollo turned to look at his assistant, looking triumphant. "Ha! You're just ignorant about this place as I am!" he said triumphantly.

"There are two parts to the Fey family. One is the main family," Pearl explained, ignoring what Apollo had just said, "who are the Fey women who become the Master of Kurain. It's passed down, normally to the oldest daughter, but sometimes to the younger ones if they have more spiritual power. The branch family are the daughters who weren't chosen as the Master, and their descendants. I'm part of the branch family."

Trucy nodded, even though she had no idea what Pearl was saying.

"Anyway, the elders are all part of the branch family. Mostly they're sisters or first or second cousins to the Masters," Pearl continued. "Anyway, all seven elders hold meetings sometimes, to talk about Kurain Village and try to solve problems related to the Fey family, like appointing new Masters. They normally have to ask the Master if she's all right with their decisions."

"'Normally'?" Apollo repeated, noticing the choice of words.

Pearl scowled. "They bullied Mystic Maya so that she wouldn't go into the city to see Mr. Nick anymore," she explained. "And they bully her so that they get what they want. I don't like the elders much. She doesn't, either."

"Elder Talia is okay," pointed out Trucy, bouncing up and down slightly in her seat. "She didn't care about Daddy losing his badge. Elder Mai, though–"

"Is _very _rude," Pearl finished with a nod.

"_And–_" Trucy added, feeling indignant, "she never heard of Troupe Graymarye before!"

Apollo shrugged. "So?"

Trucy gave him a look similar to the ones that Mai gave to Phoenix. "_So_, who _hasn't _heard of Troupe Graymarye? Or watched them on TV?"

Apollo shrugged again. "I didn't know their names, just that they were magicians. And I was more into, you know, the news and crime dramas back then, not in gags."

"They aren't gags!" Trucy cried, insulted. "They're masterful illusions! Masterpieces of magic! Not gags!"

Pearl had been ignoring this conversation; she had drifted over to the window and looked out through the glass at the garden. "I think the rain's stopped," she announced. "Do you want to go outside? The elders will all be in the dining room still, talking behind Mr. Nick's back." Her face contorted into a look of anger.

"Yeah, sure," Apollo said hastily, getting to his feet and heading toward the door. Trucy got up as well and followed him across the room as Pearl drew herself away from the window.

Apollo opened the door to step into the hallway, but he had only opened it a crack when he shut it again hastily. Trucy looked at him curiously.

"What was that for?" she asked, looking at the door.

Apollo's eyes were wide. "Two of the elders are outside," he whispered to Trucy and Pearl, who had crossed the room and was now standing next to him. "I don't know who, but they both sound furious."

Trucy elbowed Apollo out of the way and opened the door a little so that they could hear the elders' voices. Both Pearl and Apollo stared at her, and she looked back at them defensively.

"What are you doing?" Apollo hissed.

"Eavesdropping," Trucy whispered back, holding up a gloved hand to silence him. "Now, shush, I want to hear what they're saying."

Apollo glared at her and reached for the door. Trucy slapped his hand, which he retracted with a grimace. "What part of 'eavesdropping is bad' do you not get?" he asked her, his voice almost inaudible. "Close the–"

But the sound of his name made him stop mid-sentence, staring at the door. Pearl, looking guilty, took a step closer to the door so that she could hear what was being said better.

"Mr. Justice and Ms. Wright seem to be very polite, very nice guests," a woman was saying, and Trucy recognized Mai's voice drifting through the open door. "But Mr. Wright–"

Another woman laughed. This one sounded like Talia. "Mai, you're more than a bit obsessed with the poor man," she said. "I find he's very likeable."

Trucy could imagine Mai rolling her eyes. "He wears that ridiculous blue hat everywhere. The hoodie and the jeans are hardly sophisticated. And he doesn't shave. He looks like he's homeless."

"Looks, looks, looks," Talia replied dismissively. "That's all you care about. There's more to people than outward appearances."

Mai snorted. "Personality? I know what he's like already. He's one of those good-for-nothing layabouts who cheats and cuts corners at whatever they do."

Trucy's hands clenched into fists as she glared at the door, trembling in anger. Apollo noticed and grabbed her by the wrist to prevent her from bursting through the door and start yelling at Mai.

"Who forges evidence in a court of law, you mean?" Talia asked, rather coolly. "As Mr. Wright reminded you over lunch, he was cleared of those particular charges. I'll be surprised if Mr. Wright doesn't fake sick for supper so that you can't accuse him of forgery then, too."

Mai laughed, though it was cruel and humourless. "You're too soft," she told Talia. "I suppose you also approve of Mystic Maya dating him?"

"Of course," Talia replied, not in the least intimidated. "I'm one of the few people here who do."

Trucy felt like hugging Talia. Unfortunately, Apollo was still holding her firmly by the wrist so that she couldn't move.

"She shames Kurain Village by even acknowledging she knows Mr. Wright," Mai sneered, ignoring Talia. Out of the corner of her eye, Trucy saw the look of fury on Pearl's face as she stepped toward the door, pushing her sleeve back, but Apollo noticed and grabbed her by the arm with his free hand. "After years and years of waiting, we are finally making a comeback, and it will be ruined because of those two. Now, if she were dating Mr. Justice instead, that would be quite different."

Apollo blinked at this statement, his face reddening.

Talia sighed. "I wouldn't put it past you to hire a matchmaker, like you've been threatening to for the past six months," she said.

There was a slight pause. "Hmm. The thought had slipped my mind," Mai said at last, her voice thoughtful. "Yes, it would put an end to Mystic Maya's relationship with Mr. Wright. I should make the appointment now." There was the sound of footsteps as Mai hurried away.

"Mai! Wait!" Talia cried, and she raced after the elder, until her footsteps faded away. Apollo let go of the two girls' wrists, closed the door, and turned to face them, looking grim.

"Did you two hear that?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah," Trucy said, feeling just as grim. "Mai wants you and Maya to get hooked up."

Pearl gasped and punched Apollo in the arm twice in quick succession.

"Ow! Stop that, Pearl!" Apollo yelled, holding his arm as he tried to back away before realizing he was stuck against the wall. Pearl stopped, though she kept her fist back, just in case. Trucy snorted as Apollo continued, "I meant the whole matchmaker thing."

Trucy grinned. "Oops, must have missed that," she said innocently. Apollo glared at her, but she just kept smiling, amused at the expression on his face.

"Seriously, though," Apollo continued, eyeing Pearl's drawn fist in the corner of his eye, "this isn't good. If they really do hire a matchmaker–"

"–Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya won't be able to keep dating, get engaged, and get married," Pearl finished for him, still looking furious, both at Apollo and at Mai's comments about Maya. Apollo stared at her.

"You really think it's going to go that far?" Apollo asked curiously.

Pearl punched him again, annoyed that he wasn't keeping up with the program. He let out a yelp of pain.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he cried, and Pearl, still looking angry, took a step away from him. Trucy was trying very hard to keep a straight face, but she could feel a smile twitching the corners of her mouth.

"Anyway, what can we do about this?" Pearl asked, suddenly looking confused and worried. "We can't just let them destroy Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya's relationship."

Trucy frowned thoughtfully, tapping her chin, deep in thought. "Tell Maya?" she suggested. "Or Daddy?"

Pearl shook her head. "Mystic Maya will find out soon enough. The elders have to ask her permission to do things, but they'll bully her into doing it. And she'll probably tell Mr. Nick, too."

Apollo was thinking deeply, turning his bracelet absent-mindedly. "We don't have to do anything," he pointed out, sounding hopeful. "Maybe Maya won't give in to the elders."

"Yeah, but that's no fun!" Trucy argued. "If she doesn't, what will we have to do for the rest of the week?"

"Um. . . relax, like you're supposed to on vacation?" he suggested.

Pearl sighed. "Mr. Apollo, _please_? The elders will _make_ Mystic Maya agree with them. We have to do something!"

Apollo sighed and opened his mouth to argue before seeing the earnest look on Pearl's face. "Well, _if _we _have_ to do something," he said slowly, "it can't be something stupid. Like the reunion in November."

Pearl looked at him, hurt. "That wasn't stupid!"

It was Trucy's turn to hit Apollo in the arm. "Yeah! It worked, didn't it? Not the way we thought it would, but still. . ."

Apollo massaged his arm, glaring at Trucy, but he didn't argue the point. "As long as you don't suggest one of us impersonates the matchmaker, we should be okay," he said instead.

Trucy stared at Apollo as if she had never seen anyone like him before. Ideas were racing through her mind, and it must have shown on her face, because Apollo grimaced.

"Apollo, you are a genius!" she exclaimed. "How do you come up with this stuff?"

Apollo cursed under his breath.

A look of comprehension dawned on Pearl's face. "We can say that Mr. Nick really _is_ the one for Mystic Maya!" she said happily. "Thanks, Mr. Apollo!"

Slowly, Apollo turned around and started banging his head against the wall. Trucy picked up an enza cushion and placed it between Apollo's head and the wall so that it softened the blow.

"Don't hurt yourself," she told him sternly. "We need you to think up more brilliant ideas to help us! Now, let's get started!"

Apollo stopped banging his head against the wall and looked at her, thinking. Trucy looked back at him, wondering if he was going to say anything.

"If I help," he said at last, "will you two stop treating me like a punching bag?"

Both Trucy and Pearl nodded enthusiastically. Apollo surveyed them for a moment, still thinking it over.

"I'll help you anyway, but only if we absolutely have to," he decided, sitting down on the floor and looking up at Pearl. "So, what do you know about matchmakers?"

* * *

**Poor Apollo. He shall be nothing more than a big bruise by the time this is done. XD**

**I know that an issue with Overdue was the fact that Pearl was acting too much like her nine-year-old self, but I still have a feeling that she'd hit someone if they made her mad enough. :)**

**I feel bad for Phoenix, but I feel even worse for Maya when she finds out about Mai's plan. But that can wait until the next chapter. XD**


	3. Miai

**I know I haven't updated in ages. School starting up again, writer's block, and extreme sleep-deprivation (maybe I should take a page out of Diego's book and drink coffee) are what I blame this time. But enough with the weak excuses.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, but I'm too tired to write out replies. (/lazy) Problems that have been pointed out are fixed, though. Anyway, chapter 3:**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Miai**

Maya watched Pearl storm away from the dining room after lunch, Trucy and Apollo following in her wake. "Well, Pearly seems to be mad," she commented, turning to look at Phoenix. He was leaning against the wall, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, staring down at the floor. Poking him in the arm, she said, "Hey, Nick?"

Phoenix looked up at her, startled. "Sorry, what?"

She sighed, knowing he had more important things on his mind. "Let's go outside," she suggested, gesturing toward the nearby door. "We can get away from–" She had been about to say "Mai," but had noticed the elder standing in the doorway to the dining room, her arms crossed, glaring at Phoenix.

Phoenix glanced at Mai and didn't need telling twice. He quickly walked to the door, wrenched it open, and hurried outside. If she hadn't known how upset he was, she would have laughed; instead, she followed him outside and closed the door behind her.

The rain had mercifully stopped, but the sky was still a dark, ominous gray, as if it could start again at any time, and the ground underfoot was soaking wet. The dirt streets of Kurain Village, normally so dry that, with every step you took, clouds of dust rose in the air, now looked more like long rivers of thick mud than anything else.

Maya looked first at the roads, then at her feet. She was wearing sandals.

Thankfully, Phoenix didn't seem interested in wading across the muddy streets. He had sat down on a nearby bench, his elbows resting on his knees, his shoulders slumped, his head bowed as he stared at the ground, unable to look anyone, even her, in the face.

She had only seen him like this only once before, a long time ago, when he had lost his attorney's badge. He had looked just as defeated then as he did now, and just like last time, it made her heart ache and, at the same time, made her furious at the people who had reduced him to this. The only difference was that, this time, one of the people that she was angry with was herself.

Maya plopped herself down on the bench beside Phoenix, and they sat in silence for a moment, Maya fidgeting as she tried to find a way to phrase her thoughts, Phoenix continuing to stare at the ground. At last, more to break the silence than anything, she blurted out, "I'm sorry, Nick. I knew what the elders would say if you came and that even if I asked them, they wouldn't stop, but I wanted you to come anyway. You can leave on the next train. I won't stop you."

Phoenix wrenched his gaze from the ground and stared at Maya in shock.

"I'm serious," Maya continued, gazing back at him. "I'll even go buy your ticket for you."

He blinked. "Maya–"

"The next train arrives in an hour," Maya informed him, standing up. "Come on, let's go."

"Maya, I don't want–"

"Apollo might want to go back, too," Maya mused, beginning to walk away. "Trucy probably won't, but we'll let her know. Come on, let's go tell them."

"Maya, _I'm staying here_," Phoenix said firmly.

Maya whipped around and stared at Phoenix as if he had grown an extra head. "What?" she asked, thinking he must have left out a "not" somewhere.

"I'm going to stay here," Phoenix repeated. "I'm _fine_, okay? I'm not going home."

Maya merely looked at him, one eyebrow raised, silently asking him, "Are you kidding me?" The corner of his mouth twitched, and he gestured for her to join him on the bench again. She sat down next to him, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting for him to speak as he looked down a the ground again, as if it were the most interesting thing to the world.

"Okay, I'm _not_ fine," he conceded to the grass at his feet. "It's like those days after my final trial all over again, when I'd pick up the newspaper and see the headline 'Forging Attorney Disbarred' on the front page. It's like when I'd turn on the TV and hear the news anchor say, 'Coming up next, details on Phoenix Wright's fall from grace.' Then, I could shred up the newspaper or turn off the TV, but those words, they haunted me for weeks and weeks."

Maya took one of his hands in hers and said, "And you can't shred or turn off Elder Mai. As much as we'd all love to."

She thought she saw Phoenix smile for a second, but when she blinked, he was still gazing expressionlessly at the ground.

"I had to stick it out," he continued, finally looking up at her. "There was no other choice. And, eventually, the press moved on. I don't think Elder Mai's going to, but I'm going to stick it out like last time. I'm not going to give up now."

Maya tried to think of an argument, any argument, but in her heart, she knew he wasn't going to give in. He was stubborn and, after all, an ex-lawyer. He was used to arguing every little point he could. It was second nature to him, even though he had lost his badge eight years ago.

But she couldn't bear to stand by and watch him endure an endless barrage of abuse from Mai because of her.

"Nick, if you're not going to go home, can I at least help?" she asked him. "I won't be able to get her to stop picking at you every chance she gets, but I _can_ arrange things so you can have meals in your room or something. Elder Mai won't be happy about it, but. . ."

Again, Maya thought she saw a smile flit across Phoenix's face, but it disappeared so quickly that she couldn't be sure. "She'll go out of her way to find me," he pointed out.

"And you'll have a better chance of getting away from her than if you have to go to meals every single day," Maya countered. "Please, Nick? I don't want you to go through any more of that than I can help."

Phoenix nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but just then, someone called, "Mystic Maya? Mystic Maya?"

Maya gave a violent start and whipped around. Tallia was rounding the corner of Fey Manor, looking furious, the hems of her robe trailing through the wet grass as she walked. "Ah, there you are," she said, catching sight of them and quickening her pace until she stood beside their bench. "The elders are having a meeting tonight, and it is our wish that you would join us."

Maya looked sideways at Phoenix, who was staring at her, probably just as confused as she was. "But, um, Nick and I were going to–" she began, but Tallia cut her off.

"I apologize, Mystic Maya," she said, looking as if she truly meant it. "I shouldn't have said it that way. What I meant was, you _must_ join us."

"Must?" Maya repeated, staring at Tallia in shock. She went to most of the meetings anyway, preferring to be there in person rather than hear about it, along with a long rant about how it was a disgrace that she hadn't been there, from Mai, but they had never ordered her to any meeting before.

Tallia's hands clenched into fists at her sides as she replied coldly, "Yes. The meeting is about _you_, you see, Mystic Maya."

Maa blinked, feeling a sense of unease in the pit of her stomach. "About me?"

Tallia nodded. "The meeting is at seven o'clock in the Main Room. My apologies, Mr. Wright, but only the elders and Mystic Maya are allowed in attendance at this meeting."

This only made Maya's unease grow. The elders usually allowed anyone who wanted to attend their meetings. They had only banned admittance like this once before, and Maya wasn't likely to forget that event.

"Um. . . sure?" Phoenix replied, looking completely lost.

Tallia nodded curtly, turned on her heel, and stalked away, disappearing inside the manor and closing the door with an unnecessary amount of force that caused it to bounce backward and hit the wall. Tallia grumbled something and slammed it shut again, and this time, it stayed shut.

Maya turned to look at Phoenix, her feeling of unease growing. "I don't like this," she admitted to him. "The only time they called a meeting like that, they told me they'd found out that I was sneaking into the city to see you."

Phoenix let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands over his blue beanie, thinking. At last, he replied, "Well, what could this be about? Your undignified obsession with the Samurai shows?"

Maya glared at him. "Not funny, Nick. Try to be serious for once."

"I _was_ serious," Phoenix replied, straight-faced.

Maya hit him on the arm.

Rubbing the spot where she'd hit him, Phoenix replied, very nonchalantly, "Seriously, what have you done now?"

"I haven't done _anything_!" Maya insisted. Phoenix gave her a look that clearly said, "Really?" She hit him again and continued, "The only thing I've done is invite you and Apollo and Trucy here."

"It's not like they have a reason to kick us out of Kurain," Phoenix pointed out. "And they can't exactly tell you who you can and can't go out with."

Maya's face fell. _They've tried, _she thought, but didn't say aloud.

Uncharacteristically optimistic, Phoenix added, "Maybe it's just something they want to keep to themselves and you for now. Right?"

Maya opened her mouth to say that, in that case, Tallia wouldn't have looked so angry when she'd told them about the meeting, but before the words came out, she stopped herself. It was no use; they both knew that there was trouble brewing, and arguing about it was pointless until they actually knew what "it" was. Instead, she suggested, "Let's go inside and watch TV or something."

"You have a TV?"

Maya was hoping he was just saying that in an attempt to be funny.

"Duh, Nick. We're not _that_ primitive here, you know," she replied with a grin, getting to her feet and trying to pull him into a standing position. He stood up, grumbling, and together, they walked back into Fey Manor, though Maya's mind was on other things besides TV.

—

Maya slipped into the Main Room, feeling so nervous that she thought she was going to be sick all over the tatami mat that covered the floor. All seven elders, sitting at a long table, looked up as she closed the door behind her, their expressions ranging from angry to stony. Feeling self-conscious, Maya sat down at the head of the table, opposite of Mai, who was clenching a folder tightly in her hands. Was it just her, or did the elder look indecently happy about something?

"Glad to see you've joined us, Mystic Maya," Mai said with a nod, tilting her head slightly to one side as she considered Maya.

"Um. . . yeah," Maya mumbled, lowering her eyes to the top of the table. "I kind of, lost track of time. . . sorry."

She could feel herself turn bright red as one of the elders, Lorraine, leaned toward her neighbour and whispered something to her. Her neighbour smirked as Mai dropped the folder on the table, still surveying Maya with sharp eyes.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering what this meeting is about," she began, sounding as happy as a dog with a particularly large piece of juicy meat.

"I was told it had something to do with me," Maya said, her voice barely audible as she tried to look at Mai in the eye.

Mai glanced at Tallia, who sat nearby, but Tallia was glaring at the Greater Magatama mounted on the opposite wall and didn't seem to be paying the least bit attention to anything that was happening. Turning back to Maya, she said, "It does indeed have very much to do with you, Mystic Maya. You and Mr. Wright both."

"Nick?" Maya asked, feeling her heart sink. "What about Nick?"

Maya swore that Mai rolled her eyes at the use of Phoenix's nickname. "In any case, as you know, you are approaching the age of thirty–"

_I'm twenty-seven!_ Maya thought silently. _Twenty-seven! That's three years away!_

"–and, of course, it is desirable that all Masters be married at the age of thirty, though it is not strictly required," Mai continued, sneering at Maya. "As elders, it is our duty to help the Master in running the Kurain Channelling School, but also in assisting in finding a suitable husband."

Maya stared at her. "But it's not like I haven't got a boyfriend!" she pointed out indignantly. She shrank back from the look of pure disdain that Mai gave her, so similar to the one that Morgan used to give when Maya failed training techniques.

"Mr. Wright is not a person whom we would like affiliated with the village," Mai said, her voice as cold as her words. "It is bad enough that you continued to call him friend after that incident eight years ago, but now this?" She shook her head sadly. "It is a disgrace to Kurain Village, and a disgrace to you."

Maya was so furious at Mai that she temporarily took leave of her senses. She leapt to her feet and slammed the table with her hands, reminiscent of Phoenix when he had been a lawyer. "Nick was framed! _Everyone_ knows that, but you keep criticizing him and won't leave him alone! He's beaten himself up enough the past eight years without you coming along and giving him a hand!"

All the elders stared at Maya in open-mouthed dismay, except for Tallia, who was still glaring resolutely at the Greater Magatama, though the corner of her mouth was twitching, as if she had not only heard what Maya had said, but was fighting the urge to let out a cheer.

Lorraine was the first to find her voice. "Sit down and hold your tongue!" she snapped at Maya.

Personally, Maya wanted to stick her tongue out at all of them, but that wouldn't help in the slightest. However, she remained standing as one by one, the elders began murmuring amongst each other until Mai, the last to come to her senses, coughed. Everyone quieted instantly, turning to her to see her reaction.

Opting to ignore Maya's outburst, Mai continued with the topic at hand. "That is why I have decided to file for a professional matchmaker from Japan, Rina Watanabe. She is well-known in some circles, you see, and is responsible for many successful marriages. In fact, she is very distantly related to the Fey family."

Maya felt her legs turn to jelly. She had to grab the edges of the table to remain standing as she stared at Mai in disbelieving silence. Mai, seeming to revel in her surprise, slid the folder along the length of the table until it came to a stop in front of Maya, who continued to stare at her, hoping she had heard the elder wrongly.

"She will be using the practice of miai for this," Mai explained, smiling in a very smug way. "She will fly in from Japan within a few days time, with a short list of bachelors for you to meet. She has been waiting for some time for the chance to do this, you see."

Maya continued to stare at Mai, feeling tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

"Of course, you would know all about miai," Mai continued, though it was obvious she didn't expect her to. "You know how it works. It will have to be a bit rushed, as we'd like to have this finished as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, Mr. Wright must revert back to 'friendship' status after this is completed, though if you agree to drop him completely, we won't say no. . ."

Maya was aware of the tears sliding down her cheeks. She was aware of the fact that each elder except for Tallia was watching her, waiting for a reaction to this news. She was aware that the feeling of being sick that she had had earlier had intensified tenfold. But, perhaps most of all, she was aware of the cold fury that was building up inside her.

"Mystic Maya?" one of the elders asked, sounding concerned. "Are you all right?"

Maya looked down at the table, knowing that if she was looking at any of them, she wouldn't be able to say the words that were on the tip of her tongue. To the tabletop, she said, in a quiet voice, "Never."

"Excuse me?" Mai asked, sounding affronted.

"Never." Maya looked up for the briefest of seconds and locked eyes with Mai. It was like looking into deep wells of ice. Quickly, she lowered her gaze again. "I'll never go along with this. You. . . you can't make me."

"No one is _making_ you, Mystic Maya," Mai explained, her tone annoyingly patient, the look on her face that of one dealing with a particularly slow child. "No. No person has made the Master do anything in the history of Kurain Village. No, it is _because_ they are the Master that they do what they must for the sake of Kurain. After all, Mystic Misty herself disappeared because of the shame she brought upon the village for her mistake. We fear that you, too, might do the same."

Before Mai could say anything else, before anyone could do anything to stop her, Maya pushed herself away from the table, her whole body shaking with the effort of suppressing sobs as she crossed the room toward the door, accidentally knocking her chair over. The sound of her footsteps and the dull thud of wood upon the tatami mat were the only sounds inside the room. It didn't even seem as if anyone was breathing.

Maya wrenched the door open and hurried outside, barely registering the fact that Apollo, Trucy, and Pearl were standing guiltily a few feet away, evidently eavesdropping. Apollo was holding Pearl's arm, as if he had been trying to prevent her from crashing through the doors, but let go as she took a step forward to say something to Maya, who turned her face away from them, not wanting them to see her like this. Out of the corner of her eye, Maya saw Pearl stop and stare at her, her hand covering her mouth in surprise, but she didn't stop and continued down the hallway.

Phoenix was sitting outside Maya's room, his legs crossed, reading the back of a Pink Princess DVD case. He looked up at the sound of footsteps and seemed surprised to see her back so early, before he noticed the tears running down her face.

"Maya–?"

Maya stopped in her tracks and stared at him, her mind blank as she teetered on the edge of a complete breakdown. Then, she ran past him, unable to face him any more.

"Maya!"

Maya ignored his repeated cries as she ran down the hall, into the Meditation Room, and through the open doorway leading to the Winding Way, where she finally ran out of steam and collapsed to the ground, resting her head against her knees. She didn't notice that the rain from earlier that day had resumed, and even if she had noticed, she wouldn't have cared; at least it would be impossible to distinguish rain from tears.

She heard footsteps from inside the manor as someone hurried across the Meditation Room. They stopped momentarily, as if whoever it was needed to collect their bearings, before slowly making their way to the door of the Winding Way. The person sat down beside her and put his arm around her, drawing her closer.

"Maya?"

_Nick._

She didn't know if she said his name aloud or not. She didn't know if he heard. She _did_ know, however, that he had followed her out to the Winding Way in the driving rain and was now holding her, and that was all that mattered.

All resolve broke. She turned her face into his sweater and cried.

They remained in that position for what felt like hours, Phoenix silently holding Maya as she cried in a way that she very rarely did, and only in private, as the rain continued to fall, soaking them both to the bone, though they barely noticed. Maya was grateful now for the sound of the rain, which drowned her sobs and kept people away from the Winding Way, because she didn't want anyone to see her like this. Not Mai. Not Apollo. Not Trucy. And especially not Pearl.

Eventually, Maya's sobs were reduced to the occasional sniffle. It was hard to tell whether or not the tears themselves had stopped, due to the constant downpour of rain, but at least she could talk now, albeit into Phoenix's chest, as she refused to turn her head. Tentatively, he asked her, "What happened?"

And she told him. Very slowly, with many pauses as she tried to keep herself from breaking down once again, her voice muffled by his sweater, she explained about the matchmaker who was coming within a few days' time. She couldn't look at him, couldn't bear to see the look on his face, whatever it was. Pity? Anger? Or. . . disappointment that she hadn't stuck to her guns and refused to do it?

When she finished, there was a long silence as Maya waited for him to say something, anything. She waited for him to stand up and leave her alone, which she thought she deserved. But what he did say came as a shock to her.

"We'll think of something."

Surprised, Maya drew back and stared at him. Phoenix was watching her with a determined look on his face, as if he had made up his mind to do something about this new development, thought what exactly he would do was still a mystery.

"Wh-What?" she asked, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

"There's got to be something we can do," Phoenix told her absent-mindedly, thinking it over. "What exactly is miai, anyway?"

Maya blinked. "I don't know, but it must have something to do with matchmaking," she admitted. Then, timidly, "You aren't mad at me?"

Phoenix stared at her in much the same manner she was staring at him. "Why would I be?"

"Because. . . because I didn't say no!" Maya exclaimed, feeling tears leaking out of her eyes again.

"You didn't say yes," he pointed out.

"But I'm going along with it!"

"That's not the same thing."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

Phoenix, noticing the tears again, quickly changed the topic. "Can't you just say no to all of your matches?" he asked her.

Maya let out a shaky sigh. "I-I don't know. I don't know how it works, or anything."

"So they've never done this before?"

She shook her head. "Not for a while, at least," she conceded. "M-My mother didn't. . ."

The mention of Maya's mother reminded her of what Mai had said earlier about Misty. And if there was one thing that was likely to make Maya start crying again, it was remembering the harsh words that Mai had used to describe her mother.

How could the elders still blame her for that mistake in the DL-6 incident? It wasn't even a mistake. The spirit she had been channelling just didn't know the right answer. The spirit had done the best he could, but had neglected to mention that he was unsure of his answer.

And Misty had taken the fall.

Maya started to cry again, and instinctively buried her face in Phoenix's sweater. For the second time that night, she cried as he held her, the rain a constant, merciless downpour that drowned out almost every sound, except for Phoenix's clumsy attempt at comfort: "It's going to be okay."

* * *

**-headdesk- A sleep-deprived Alette + a keyboard = bad writing. Now, here's some math I can do.**

**I feel bad for Maya. And I want to punch Mai in the face, which is kind of pathetic, since I created her. Worry not, Maya gets some payback, but that comes later. Heh. :)**

**Also, for the record, miai **_**is**_** a Japanese matchmaking custom and not something I made up because I couldn't find anything on the Google search.**

**Anyway, in the next chapter, we get to see more of Trucy, Pearl, and Apollo, flashbacks will be coming soon (-cue collective groan from the readers-), and we learn more about Rina Watanabe and miai. Yay. :)**


	4. Of Meditation and the Internet

**iryna: I'm pretty sure I have some kind of sleeping disorder. The more I get, the tired I am. XDD But I am rested up now, so all is well. :)**

**Hope: No, it's okay, I like ranting. :) Unfortunately, the elders have a lot of influence over what the Master does. But Maya gets revenge. And it will be sweet. 8D**

**sonicandlink: It's amazing Pearl hasn't **_**already**_** punched Mai in the face, isn't it? XD But I haven't actually considered her doing that. -thinks- . . . -smiles innocently-**

**This chapter isn't as serious as the last one, thankfully. I needed something to cheer me up. So, here we go~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Google and I don't own Facebook. Random disclaimer? Nah, not really. . .**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Of Meditation and the Internet**

"Trucy?"

Trucy opened her eyes to see Pearl's face a few inches from her own, looking concerned.

"Hi, Pearl," she said, trying to stifle a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Um. . . four o'clock in the morning," Pearl replied, leaning back so that Trucy could sit up.

"Four in the morning?!" Trucy exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. "Really?"

Pearl looked agitated. "I know! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to sleep in, but we were up really late last night, and–"

Trucy slumped back onto her bedding and pulled the blankets over her head. "I'm going back to sleep," she mumbled as she rolled over.

Pearl tried to shake her awake. "Please, Trucy! Wake up! We've got to figure out how we're going to save Mystic Maya's and Mr. Nick's relationship!"

Trucy's eyes shot open again. "Oh, right!" she said, throwing the blankets off and reaching for her nearby top hat. "Let's go wake up Apollo. Maybe he'll think of some more great ideas!"

"Good idea," Pearl agreed. "Come on, let's go."

The two teenaged girls snuck out of Pearl's room and down the hallway, in the direction of Apollo's temporary room. When they reached it, Trucy put a finger to her lips and eased the door open before slipping inside the room. Apollo was curled up on his bedding, snoring softly.

"Maybe we should let him sleep," Pearl suggested quietly, her eyes fixed on Apollo's face. "We can probably think of something ourselves, right?"

"But that's no fun!" Trucy whispered, an evil grin on her face as she sat down next to him. "Come over here."

Pearl hesitantly sat down next to Trucy.

"Now what do we do?" Pearl asked quietly.

"Stare at him," Trucy replied, as if this were obvious. "We might as well have some fun, right?" Pearl nodded reluctantly. Trucy grinned at her before leaning in close to Apollo's face, gesturing to her friend to do the same. "Oh, Apollo, time to wake up."

Apollo's eyelids flickered as he let out a moan. After a second, they opened again in surprise, and he let out a loud scream when he saw Trucy and Pearl leaning over him.

"_Argh! Trucy, get out of here!_" he yelled, clutching the blankets around himself.

Trucy smiled at him, the picture of wide-eyed innocence. "Apollo, it's too early to be working on your Chords of Steel."

Pearl nodded. "It's five after four in the morning," she agreed.

Apollo mouthed wordlessly at them for a moment. At last, he managed to find his voice, and croaked, "Trucy, if your dad sees you two in here. . ." His voice trailed away as a look of despair and fright crossed his face.

"Well, get dressed!" Trucy ordered him, jabbing him in the chest. "We're going to look up stuff about Rina Watanabe!"

"How are we going to do that?" Apollo mumbled, glaring at her. "Run a Google search on her name and see what we come up with?"

Trucy's face lit up as she considered the possibility. "Yeah, that works! Great thinking, Apollo! This is why I'm glad you're here to help us!"

"I should keep my mouth shut," Apollo muttered. "Now, could you _please_ get out of my room?"

Trucy got to her feet. "Okay, but if you're not out in five minutes, we're coming back in," she warned him sweetly as Pearl, looking confused, stood up, too. As she stepped into the hallway and closed the door, she heard Apollo grumble, "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Um, Trucy?" Pearl was biting her thumbnail, as if she was thinking.

"Hmm?" Trucy asked, looking round at her friend.

"What's Google?"

Trucy, used to her friend asking things like this, took it in stride. "It's this site. You type in some words and it searches for web sites that match what you're looking for. You can find _anything_!"

Pearl continued to look at her, uncomprehending.

"You know the Internet?" Trucy pressed. "It's on the computer."

"Oh! Yes, I have a computer!" Pearl exclaimed, looking thrilled at having finally understood what Trucy was saying. "So, we'll be able to find out more about Miss Watanabe, then?"

Trucy nodded. "You can find out about almost _anything_ on Google."

A few minutes later, a fully-dressed, sleepy-eyed, scowling Apollo opened the door to his room and stepped out into the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. "Let's just hurry this up, okay?"

"Sure!" Trucy turned to Pearl. "So, where's the computer?"

—

For the past ten minutes, Trucy had been Googling anything and everything that she could think of that had to do with Rina Watanabe.

Put bluntly, it wasn't going that well.

"Try typing in 'Rina Watanabe'."

"I did, Apollo – six times!"

"Oh, right."

"How about 'Rina Watanabe, Matchmaker'?"

"Okay. . . Nope, that doesn't work, either."

"I thought you said you could find _anything_ on Google?"

Trucy let out a sigh as she removed her hat to scratch her head. After she replaced her hat, she quickly typed "Rina Watanabe Miai." The first page was a full list of rules from a game that was also called "miai" and had nothing whatsoever to do with matchmaking.

"This is crazy," Apollo grumbled. "Ten bucks says we're not going to find anything. It's not like she has a web page or something."

Determined to prove Apollo wrong, Trucy typed in "Japanese Matchmaking Rina Watanabe." The first result had a slew of Japanese characters in it, but there were two words in English: Rina Watanabe.

"I found it, I think!" Trucy exclaimed, hurriedly clicking the link.

Apollo sighed and leaned in closer. Pearl, who was sitting in a chair next to Trucy, moved closer to the computer as the web site popped up – a web site that was purely written in Japanese.

"Anyone here speak Japanese?" Trucy asked, throwing a pointed look in Apollo's direction.

Apollo shook his head. "Don't look at me," he said, holding up his hands.

"You're not good for anything," Trucy complained before turning to Pearl. "Do you speak Japanese?"

Pearl bit her lip. "Only a little. Not enough to know what this is saying."

"You should have seen this coming," Apollo told Trucy. "She's a matchmaker who lives in Japan. Of _course_ anything that had any relation to her would be written in Japanese."

"Yeah, but I was right and she does have a web site," Trucy retorted.

"But what use is that if none of us can read it?!"

Trucy ignored him. "Now, if Mai's hiring her, she must be able to speak English. . . maybe there's an English section here somewhere?"

"Yeah, it's probably marked in Japanese," Apollo muttered under his breath.

Opting to ignore this, Trucy began to scroll down, her eyes scanning for even a single English word. After a few seconds of this, Pearl grabbed her arm.

"Oh! Trucy, stop!" she said. "Go back up."

Trucy scrolled back up the page.

"Stop!" Pearl ordered. Trucy stopped at a small picture of a woman in her early forties. "I think that's Miss Watanabe."

Trucy examined the photo more closely. Rina Watanabe – if it really was her – had long, black hair with threads of gray in it that hung loose around her face, blue eyes set behind thick, square glasses, thick eyebrows, a black robe that she had tied so tightly that it looked as if it was cutting into her circulation, and a permanently stern look on her face, even when she smiled, like she did in the picture.

"So, this is Rina Watanabe?" Trucy asked.

Apollo shrugged. "Maybe it's someone else."

"Well, at least we have a picture for reference," Trucy said decisively, bookmarking the page. "Let's keep looking for an English section."

There was the sound of the door opening. Everyone whipped around to see it being slammed shut. Pearl leapt to her feet and hurried across the room, wrenching the door open and peering into the hallway.

"No one's there," she said, confused, before closing the door and returning to her spot.

There was a few seconds of silence before Apollo turned to Trucy and informed her, as if nothing had happened, "You're not going to find one. The whole site will be in Japanese."

"The whole site?" Trucy repeated. "Hmm. . ."

At that moment, an idea hit her like a bolt of lightning. Trucy began typing a site name into the box at the top of the screen as Apollo continued, "Exactly. This is it. We've hit a dead end. We don't know for sure if that woman's Rina Watanabe, and it's no good unless we know beyond a shadow of doubt that this is her."

The main page for Facebook popped up on the screen. As Trucy began to execute a search for any Rina Watanabes, Apollo continued, "Let's just quit while we're ahead. We can think of another plan. Anything except impersonating her."

The search yielded three people. Trucy clicked on the first link, which showed a picture of the same woman from the web site they had just visited. Most of the profile was in Japanese, but at the very top were two messages in bold print. The second, in English, read, "Finally been asked to do some matchmaking for the Master of Kurain. _Yes_! :)"

Trucy pointed at the screen. Apollo stopped talking and stared at the profile, rather glumly. Pearl leaned in, read the message, and clapped her hands together.

"This is her!" she exclaimed happily. "Yes! You're a genius, Trucy!"

Trucy turned to look at Apollo. "Told you," she said smugly. "You owe me ten dollars."

Even more glumly, Apollo reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. He quickly wrote something and shoved it to Trucy, who picked it up and read aloud, "IOU ten bucks."

". . . Yeah, I'm kinda having trouble getting payment from clients," Apollo replied sheepishly.

Pearl looked sympathetic. "Mr. Nick never had much luck with that, either. But the prosecutors were paid a lot."

By the look on his face, the comment didn't help Apollo's self esteem much.

"So, who's going to impersonate Rina?" Trucy asked, changing the topic abruptly. "And how are we going to do it?"

Pearl raised her hand. "We should get a wig," she suggested. "A black one."

"There's gray in her hair," Trucy pointed out. "Hard to get a wig like that."

Apollo shook his head. "We can just say that whoever it is had their hair coloured."

"Good idea!" Trucy said. "But, who exactly is going to impersonate her?"

". . ." Apollo turned to look at Pearl expectantly.

". . ." Pearl turned to Trucy, biting her thumbnail as if considering the possibility.

". . ." Trucy looked up at Apollo with an innocent smile on her face. Apollo noticed and paled significantly.

"I am _not_ getting dressed up as a woman," Apollo said, sounding both firm and nervous.

Trucy's face fell. _How'd he know? _she wondered.

Pearl, however, looked indignant. "Not even to save Mr. Nick's and Mystic Maya's relationship?!"

Apollo took a cautious step backward. "Look at me!" he said, spreading his arms out. "Do I, uh, look like I'd be convincing as a, um, woman?"

Trucy nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, of course, Apollo! With a bit of makeup and a wig, you'd be very convincing!"

Apollo now looked clean terrified as opposed to nervous.

Pearl shook her head. "No, he wouldn't be, Trucy."

"Well, then you could do it!" Trucy suggested.

"Me?!" Pearl gasped. "No! No! I'm a very bad actor. . . and Elder Mai would recognize me, even with a wig on. Maybe you could do it?"

Trucy tilted her head to one side, considering the possibility.

"Your Mr. Hat trick is really good," Pearl explained enthusiastically, "because you can change your voice really well. And the Elders don't know you as well as they know me. You could fool them."

"It would be a great illusion," Trucy said slowly, still thinking it over. "Like Uncle Valant at the Gavineers's concert!"

". . . Gavineers?" Pearl repeated.

"Yeah! He pretended to be–" Trucy stopped suddenly, her face changing to a look of horror. "Oh no! I almost revealed the trick!"

Apollo, who was beginning to calm down a little, rolled his eyes behind Trucy's back.

"Okay, so we need a wig, and we're going to need a robe or something," Trucy said, going over the list of things they would need. "And we're going to need to get rid of her when she comes."

"We'll worry about that part when she gets here," Pearl decided. "Let's find you something to wear. There's probably something in one of the clothing boxes or dressers. Coming, Mr. Apollo?"

Apollo shook his head. "I'm going back to bed," he said with a yawn. "Bye."

"You're no fun," Trucy grumbled, but didn't stop him as he crossed the room and stepped out into the hall, making a beeline for his room. Turning to Pearl, she said, "All right, let's go."

—_Maya Fey—_

Maya eased her way into the Meditation Room, heavy-eyed and tousle-haired. As usual, the room was empty at this time in the morning – most of the mediums would only be waking up or starting with breakfast. In about half an hour, they would begin to head in the direction of the Meditation Room for training, but for now, Maya had it all to herself.

Sitting down on the floor, Maya crossed her legs, settled into a more comfortable position, closed her eyes, and tried to empty her mind of all thoughts. Unfortunately, she had never been very good at this, and it didn't help that she had gotten about an hour of sleep last night.

_How am I going to deal with the matchmaker? _was the first thought to enter Maya's mind. She shook her head in an attempt to clear soon as the thought vanished from her mind, another took its place.

_Maybe I should call Sis to help me out? . . . No, I can't do that. I call on her too much already. Maybe. . . no, not helping, Maya._

Taking another deep breath, Maya tried again to banish her thoughts from her mind.

_I guess I'll just have to say no to every guy she shows me. . . but Elder Mai won't let me do that, I think._ _Wait, stop that! Concentrate. _Concentrate_!_

_. . . I'm glad Nick's not mad at me after last night. I can't let him down. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get out of it. I'd fake sick, but Elder Mai would see right through it. I guess that saying no _is_ my best bet._

Giving up on her meditation, Maya opened her eyes and nearly let out a scream but managed to turn it into a squeak. Sitting right across from her was Tallia, her eyes closed, evidently meditating. Her concentration was broken at the sound of Maya's squeak, and Tallia opened her eyes, smiling.

"Given up, Mystic Maya?" Tallia asked nonchalantly. "I was wondering if you would. You seemed to have a lot on your mind."

Maya sighed and uncrossed her legs. "More than a lot," she admitted.

Tallia's smile flickered before returning in force. Leaning toward Maya, she whispered, "It will be difficult to get out of this, you know. Miss Watanabe is a very skilled matchmaker who is determined to set up a marriage for the Master of Kurain. There is a following in Japan, you see, so the title of Master holds a significant amount of respect there. If Miss Watanabe could set up a successful marriage for you, it would be considered a huge triumph for her career."

Maya made a face. "I don't _want_ a matchmaker," she admitted. "I don't even know how 'miai' works."

Tallia sighed. "I have seen it happen once. With your aunt and her first husband."

Maya went very still and watched Tallia with wide eyes.

"It's quite simple, though the process will be rushed because of Mai's desire for you to stop seeing Mr. Wright as soon as possible," Tallia said, frowning slightly. "The matchmaker looks for interested candidates and submits short profiles to the person who requested the miai – which would be you, in this case." At this, Maya rolled her eyes. "You make a short list of candidates and give it to the matchmaker, who then arranges the actual miai, or, rather, the meeting. The couple and their families then meet and talk with each other, and after that, the couple can give their relationship the go-ahead or stop seeing one another. You can then continue down the list or stop altogether. Which I doubt Elder Mai will let you do."

Maya sighed. "It doesn't sound like it worked for my aunt Morgan."

Tallia's lips were pursed. "When it comes to matchmaking, no one remembers the failures. All they remember are the successes, no matter how few. Your aunt's was one of those failures."

An awkward silence fell over them. After a moment, Tallia stood up, dusted off her knees, and said, "If you need my help, Mystic Maya, I will give it gladly. Oh, and I would keep an eye on your cousin and her friends."

Maya tilted her head to one side, confused. "Why?"

A smile twitched at the corners of Tallia's mouth. "I just have a feeling," she said, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving a very confused Master in her wake.

* * *

**I love torturing Apollo. If I wasn't so dedicated to having Trucy impersonate Rina, I'd definitely make him do it. (That makes me sound so cruel, but you know that it would be hilarious. XD)**

**Anyway, I probably have the details for miai wrong here because there weren't a lot of sites to chose from while looking for information. I struggled to come up with what I got. Or maybe I'm just lazy and didn't look hard enough. Yeah, that's probably it. XDD**


	5. The Show Must Go On

**I literally forgot all about FanFiction until last night. Oops.**

**Blaze ocean dragon: I'm one of those cynical new-age hipsters – I don't have a Facebook page. Or Twitter. Or Myspace. XD And Google is incredibly frustrating at times. -nods-**

**sonicandlink: . . . Yes, Mai will feel Pearl's wrath later on. -smiles innocently-**

**KookieMonstar: I was really tempted to make Apollo impersonate her. But everyone would figure it out pretty quick, and I've got a rather amusing idea for something that happens to Trucy while she poses as Rina Watanabe. . . :)**

**This chapter is kind of short in my opinion and not as good as it could be, since I **_**really **_**want to move on to the next chapter. But we're halfway to the end of the story (just five more chapters to go! 8D) and the rest of them will be much better, and will probably be written more quickly, as long as I don't forget about FF again. :)**

**But anyway, on with the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**The Show Must Go On**

Phoenix and Maya were sitting in front of one of Kurain's old televisions, supposedly to watch the premier of the newest Samurai show. In actuality, they were discussing in worried tones what exactly Trucy, Pearl, and Apollo might be planning, and if being worried was actually the best idea at all.

"So, you have no idea whatsoever what they might be up to?" Phoenix asked, his voice slightly apprehensive.

Maya shook her head, trying to focus on the TV, holding a bowl of popcorn in her lap. "No, but Elder Tallia is convinced that they must be. Or at least that's what she said this morning."

Phoenix inconspicuously reached over, grabbed a handful of popcorn, and stuffed it in his mouth. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be worried, intrigued, or both," he admitted through a mouthful of popcorn. "Remember their last plan?"

"Yeah. We started going out, remember?" Maya reminded him, almost absentmindedly.

Phoenix nodded seriously. "Yes. After you ran crying from a hotel, I tracked you down to a burger joint, and we had a rather emotional confrontation scene."

Maya sighed and gave in. "I don't really care what they're planning this time, as long as it stops to matchmaker," she admitted quietly. "I do _not_ want to be stuck with someone just because Mai thinks he and I would be better off than the two of us. Either way, it had better work."

"It will," Phoenix assured her as the new Samurai show's opening theme played. After a slight hesitation, he added, "I think."

Trucy stuck her head inside the door, which had been left open upon Mai's instructions. She stared wide-eyed at the screen for a few seconds, then asked, "Is that the theme song for the new Pollen Samurai?"

"Yep," Maya replied disinterestedly. For once, she couldn't bring herself to happily anticipate yet another addition to the Samurai show franchise.

Pearl, who was carrying a light pink bag over her shoulder, popped in beside Trucy and asked in confusion, "Pollen Samurai?"

"Yeah," Trucy replied with an eager nod, turning to her friend. "In a freak accident, the Pollen Samurai receives the ability to breathe pollen into his enemy's faces, thus activating their allergies and causing them to wheeze and sneeze so badly that they are in no position to fight!"

Pearl and Phoenix, who hadn't been informed of the plot for the new series, both looked at her. Pearl's expression was one of upmost confusion, while Phoenix's was his best "What the hell did you just say?" look.

Thankfully, Pearl was the first to speak. "So, what happens if his enemies _don't_ have allergies?" she asked Trucy sincerely.

Trucy looked thoughtful for a moment, as if seriously considering this obvious oversight of the Pollen Samurai's scriptwriters. "I suppose he loses, then." Turning to Maya, she added, "Can we watch?"

"I don't see why not," Maya replied, gesturing to the chair beside her.

Pearl tugged on Trucy's arm, looking nervous. "Um, Trucy, we're kind of busy right now. . ."

Trucy stared at Pearl blankly until slowly, a look of understanding dawned across her face. "_Oh_," she said, in a not-so-subtle way. "Sorry Maya, Daddy, but we've got to go. Bye!"

The two teenagers disappeared, and once they were out of earshot, Maya and Phoenix turned to each other, almost matter-of-factly. "Yep, definitely planning something," they said in unison.

Phoenix looked thoughtful. "I wonder if Apollo's in on it."

Maya shrugged, happy to distract herself from the worry that the threesome _weren't_ planning anything at all. "They probably roped him into it or blackmailed him or something. Remember the reunion?" she reminded him.

"Yeah. Then they locked him in the broom closet," Phoenix said in a fondly reminiscent sort of way, smiling at the ceiling. "I still remind him of that every time we walk by one. Good times."

At that moment, the Pollen Samurai engaged himself in a battle with two highly-allergic thugs in downtown Neo Olde Tokyo, and Maya pretended to turn her attention to the TV screen. In actuality, her mind was on two plotting teenaged girls and one very reluctant defence attorney. She had no idea what they were up to – considering Trucy's twisted mind, so much like her own, it was probably better she didn't know – and perhaps it was foolish to pin all of her hopes on the three of them, but she was clueless about how to fix it. Everything depended on them.

_They need to be able to pull another miracle, _Maya thought as she ate a few pieces of popcorn. _Just like they did last time. Or else, Nick and I are doomed._

—_Trucy Wright—_

When Trucy and Pearl arrived at the Winding Way, the designated meeting place for that afternoon, it was to find Apollo already there, an open notebook on his lap as he read the information that he had taken painstaking hours to write out – their plan to impersonate Rina Watanabe. Or, rather, for Trucy to impersonate Rina Watanabe.

Hearing their footsteps, Apollo looked up from his notebook, his eyes narrowed, frowning slightly at them as Trucy positioned herself beside a small table with a light blue urn with pink flecks resting on top, Pearl sitting in a patch of weak noontime sunlight that had broken through the thin gray clouds.

"I've been thinking about this," Apollo told them sternly, tapping the notebook with his finger. "There's no way we can pull this off. It would take a miracle to do it. Someone's going to recognize Trucy, or the wig will come off, or we'll get the whole matchmaking process wrong, and the game will be up."

"So you're saying we shouldn't try?" Trucy asked indignantly, half-pushing herself off the wall. "We're not going to try to save Maya's and Daddy's relationship?"

Quickly, Apollo raised his notebook as if it were a shield, in order to protect himself from any inevitable slapping, punching, kicking, and/or other actions that might have caused him extreme physical pain. "I'm just saying that a lot could go wrong. You know that mistake you made with the reunion, without _warning_ Mr. Wright and Maya about their supposed engagement? The only reason _that_ worked out was because of sheer dumb luck," he explained quickly. "We're not going to get lucky twice in a row. So we've got to be _really_ careful. For example, we're going to have to figure out how to get rid of Miss Watanabe when she shows up, and Trucy, you're going to need a story for why you can't come to meals or go anyplace where Miss Watanabe might be."

Trucy opened her mouth to make a snappy reply, but nothing came to her, so she closed her mouth again. She hadn't even considered those possibilities. Not that she would ever admit it to him, but this was exactly why they needed Apollo to help them with their plan – Pearl was more focussed on the end than how to get there, and her own cunning, devious mind (or that was what she considered it to be, anyway) couldn't come up with everything.

"We have the costume, though," Pearl pointed out, setting her bag on the ground and pulling out a long, gray robe and a black wig. She handed them to Trucy, who stared at them, trying to picture just how ridiculous she would look wearing these.

Apollo stared at them too. "Where did you get these on such short notice?" he asked, sounding impressed.

Pearl blushed slightly. "Last Halloween, a lot of the younger acolytes decided to dress up as Mystic Maya, so we have a whole closet designated for all of the robes and the wigs that they needed," she explained. Then, looking panicked, she added, "It's not really stealing if no one uses them, right?"

Apollo shook his head. "No, I don't think so," he reassured her absentmindedly. "So, we have the clothes and the hair all set. We just need to make Trucy look older, have a good excuse for her not being around much over the next few days, figure out what to do with Miss Watanabe, and then cross our fingers and hope it works."

Trucy sighed and tossed her costume onto the table next to her. She took two steps toward Apollo when she heard something clatter across a hard surface, before there was a smashing sound that nearly made her heart stop. The three of them whipped around to find the flecked urn, which had up until that point been sitting peacefully on its little table, was now shattered into several pieces.

Trucy felt her face go red.

Apollo shook his head at Trucy's clumsiness.

Pearl nearly let out a scream but managed to stifle it with her hand.

"Damn it!" she said, her voice slightly muffled by her palm, though the words were still distinguishable enough for Apollo and Trucy to stare at her in shock. If Pearl was swearing, even by accident, that must mean that Trucy had just done something terrible. Very terrible indeed.

"What did you do _now_, Trucy?" Apollo asked, though the question was directed more toward Pearl than to the magician.

Trucy, however, was too worried to argue with him. "What did I do now?" she asked Pearl.

Slowly, Pearl walked over and knelt beside the shards of the urn, picking them up piece-by-piece and examining them closely. After a few minutes, she turned to face them, looking appalled. "_This_," she said slowly and deliberately, "is a very sacred treasure to the village of Kurain."

Trucy looked down at the pieces, feeling guilt flood through her. That was probably why she said, "But, it's just an urn, right? I bet you could get one at any pawn shop."

"But this urn contains the soul of Mystic Ami, the woman who founded the Kurain Channelling Technique and the Kurain Channelling school!" Pearl cried, evidently trying to make them understand the gravity of the situation. "The people of Kurain believe that the presence of Mystic Ami's soul in this urn is what gives the mediums of Kurain the power to channel souls. Now that the urn is broken, Mystic Ami's soul will fly away from Kurain, and we will all lose our power to communicate with the dead."

Trucy was beginning to feel extremely guilty with every word she heard. Apollo, who wasn't completely buying the whole story, had a look on his face that was familiar to Trucy – the look he got whenever he was confronting a witness who was lying, when he was trying to perceive a lie.

"Pearl," he said slowly, as if concentrating very hard, "your fingers are twitching."

Pearl looked lost. "What?"

"Your fingers are tensing up, almost curving, like you're holding a ball," he explained. "I can tell that it's because you're lying."

Pearl bit her lip, a further sign that she was beginning to get worried.

"Why are you lying?" Apollo pressed her.

Trucy focussed on Pearl for a moment. She could see Pearl's fingers tensing up as well, and it indeed looked like she was trying to hold a ball.

"It doesn't matter right now," Pearl said quickly. "Let's just get some glue. I'll tell you all about it while we're fixing it. Okay?"

After they found some glue and began to reassemble the pieces of the urn, Pearl explained how she had broken the urn at the age of eight, and since all of the mediums had retained their powers anyway, she didn't believe in the old legends.

Trucy felt both relieved and disappointed. While it would have been bad for her if Ami's soul really was the source of Kurain's spiritual power and she had just singlehandedly destroyed everything that made the village unique, it would have meant that the Master (aka Maya) couldn't channel spirits anymore, which would have meant that there would be no need for the elders to boss her around, which then would mean that Maya could marry Phoenix and they would live happily ever after.

Apollo, however, was more focussed on getting the urn fixed as soon as possible. "If someone sees us fixing this," he said, reaching for the final piece as he spoke, "we are so–"

"_Busted_."

Three hearts skipped their next beats as they heard a familiar but unwelcome voice coming from the doorway leading to the Meditation Room. Not one of them wanted to look – they didn't _need_ to look – but slowly, they glanced over their shoulders to see Mai standing framed in the doorway, her arms folded over her chest, glaring at the three miscreants kneeling on the pathway.

"My, my, aren't we in trouble," Mai said, and a small smile unfolded across her face.

It was all it took for Trucy to know they were in deeper trouble than Mai thought they were.

—

At first, everyone in Kurain had panicked when the urn had broken. Actually, "panicked" was an understatement – most of the spirit mediums acted as if the world was ending. It took Maya, who knew that the urn had been broken before, summoning a very bewildered spirit to calm their fears, and when at least they all had the chance to cool off, they were _not_ happy, especially Mai and the other elders.

Trucy was grounded by Phoenix for breaking such an important object, and Pearl had been grounded by Maya for letting Trucy near the urn in the first place. They weren't allowed to watch TV, leave their rooms except for mealtimes (and in Pearl's case, training), have any visitors, and were strictly forbidden to go near the Winding Way for the rest of their lives. Neither Maya nor Phoenix exactly wanted to ground the two girls, but the looks Mai had given them when the time for punishment came that they decided it was better than the wrath they would face if they did nothing about it.

Apollo, of course, was too old to be grounded, but his pudding pay cheque for the next two weeks had been revoked, and he was not happy.

"I didn't even break it," he complained when Phoenix informed him of this new development. "It was Trucy's fault, not mine."

The groundings were doubly bad because Trucy and Pearl couldn't help Apollo prepare for their plan. There were only two days until Rina Watanabe arrived in Kurain, and in those two days, they had to figure out how to keep Trucy and "Rina Watanabe" from having to be in the same room at the same time, what to do with the actual Rina Watanabe when she showed up, prepare Trucy for her grand illusion/impersonation, and that they didn't completely flub it. Apollo couldn't even talk to them except at meals because of the visitors ban, and he didn't particularly enjoy the idea of talking about their plan in front of the elders, or anyone else for that matter.

"_You_," he said to Trucy later that evening after supper, as Trucy and Pearl headed back to their room, "have just screwed up our plans. Big time."

Trucy shrugged and said, "We've just got to suck it up and deal with it."

"You mean that _I've_ got to suck it up and deal with it," Apollo complained.

Trucy nodded. "Yeah, pretty much," she said with a smile.

Pearl looked up at Apollo in earnest. "You can do it," she encouraged him. "Don't worry. We'll figure out a way to make it work. Just slip notes underneath the door for us when you figure stuff out. We'll do the same."

Apollo made a face. "Fine," he conceded. "But you guys owe me."

Trucy smile widened as she stopped outside the door to Pearl's room. "We have two days," she said, opening the door and stepping inside, Pearl right behind her. Turning to face Apollo, she added seriously, "We've got to make it work somehow. The show _must_ go on. Maya and Daddy are counting on us."

She closed the door, and through the wood, she could hear Apollo walking away, echoing, "'The show must go on. . .' What are the odds that, five minutes in, the show is just going to blow up in our face?"


	6. Operation Impersonation

**Merry Christmas, everyone! Or happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanza, happy Winter Solstice, etc.**

**This is my Christmas gift to you all – a completely non-Christmas related chapter of Matchmaker! (Which makes sense, as it's set in May. . .) I know that technically it's not Christmas yet, but it's close enough, right?**

**sonicandlink: I'm looking forward to it, too. . . -shifty eyes- XD**

**cookiecrisps: Their plan might turn out to be nothing at all. . . but I'm getting ahead of myself. -pokes below chapter-**

**Before I continue, a little note: Some may argue that the Maya bit down there somewhere makes her completely OOC. Remember that her future depends upon Pearl, Trucy, and Apollo and their seemingly nonexistent plan. Something to keep in mind. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Operation Impersonation**

The day of Rina Watanabe's arrival dawned damp and gloomy. Despite the rain that had continued to pour down on Kurain, the thick, dark gray clouds refused to thin and allow a ray of sunlight to peek through. The dirt streets of the village were now no longer roads – they were literally rivers of mud that were impossible to cross.

Unfortunately for him, Apollo had to cross the roads to get to the train platform.

Rina Watanabe's train was to pull into the station at five-thirty in the morning, which also happened to be the time scheduled for what was only referred to as "intense spiritual training." All that Apollo and Trucy knew was that it involved waterfalls. Therefore, all of the mediums in the village were attempting to drive through the mud toward the nearest waterfalls, a good three miles away from Kurain, leaving only the men and a few non-mediums behind. Not even the elders were planning on staying, hence the reason they had appointed Apollo to be the welcoming committee.

This was a good thing, because his, Trucy's, and Pearl's plan would have gone completely awry if anyone had set eyes on Rina Watanabe before the switch take place. Passing off Trucy when all anyone had seen of Rina Watanabe was pictures was one thing – trying to do it _after_ everyone had seen the real Rina would have been a disaster.

Before he left to greet the incoming train, Apollo checked in with Trucy and Pearl, who had asked and been allowed to stay behind from the morning retreat. They had been awake for an hour now, preparing Trucy for the switch. When Apollo peeked into the room, Trucy was already wearing the wig and the robe, and Pearl was attempting to apply some makeup to make it seem as if Trucy was a lot older and trying to look young. All it did was make Trucy look like a circus clown.

"You might want to wash that stuff off," Apollo advised, opening the door a little more widely. That was when he noticed that someone had stuffed a pillow person inside Trucy's bedding.

"We're going to pretend that I'm sick," Trucy informed him, noticing the confused look on his face. "And Pearl can make sure that no one can come in to try to visit me, because she's stuck here all the time except for training and meals."

"Oh," Apollo said softly.

Trucy grinned, knowing that he was amazed at their stroke of genius. "See? Us getting into trouble actually _helped_ the plan," she said, as if she had known all along that this would come in handy.

Apollo rolled his eyes and stepped out into the hallway. "Wash that stuff of your face and hide near the front door," he advised her. "Make sure no one can see you, okay?"

Trucy nodded, feeling butterflies beginning to flutter around in her stomach as she quickly wiped her face clean and checked her reflection in a mirror. Perhaps it was because she knew who was really underneath that wig or because she was nervous, but all she could see in the mirror was herself, without even a distinct resemblance to Rina Watanabe. She put on a pair of glasses similar to the ones the matchmaker had been wearing in her picture, but she still felt as if she was easily recognizeable.

"Ready to go?" Apollo asked. Trucy nodded again and followed him out the door. Before she left, she turned to face Pearl and waved.

"Good luck," an evidently nervous Pearl said.

Trucy tried to smile at her. It came across more as a grimace. "We'll be fine," she tried to assure her friend.

Pearl nodded, though she looked about as convinced as Trucy felt. Apollo chose that moment to grab Trucy by the arm, and she barely managed to shut the door before she was dragged down the hallway.

"We'd better hurry – it's almost five-thirty," Apollo explained as Trucy wrestled free and walked along beside him, wondering if she was going to throw up all over the floor. She tried to distract herself by trying to remember everything that Apollo had come up with over the past two days, but her mind strayed to listing everything that could go wrong.

_The wig could come off, _she began, silently counting inside her head. _Someone could see the pillow person. Daddy might recognize me – _anyone _could recognize me. I could make a mistake and – no, stop thinking like that! Think _positively_!_

All too soon, Apollo and Trucy reached the front door. Apollo shepherded Trucy inside a nearby broom closet, the key stuck in the lock, and instructed her to wait. She was too nervous to argue and gratefully stepped inside, closing the door partway so that she could see the front door, but no one passing in the halls would notice her. Through the crack between the door and its frame, she watched Apollo straighten his tie, cough, then step outside, just as the sounds of the local train pulling into the station reached their ears.

A few minutes passed until the noise stopped. A few more minutes, and then they began again as the train continued down the railway. When they faded away, Trucy could hear footsteps and the muffled sound of Apollo's voice. He sounded strained – probably up early doing Chords of Steel training, she reflected.

"The elders are incredibly sorry that they couldn't be here. But training, you know," Apollo was explaining to someone.

"Well, Kurain is quite strict with such things," said a woman, her voice quiet and slow with a light Japanese accent. Trucy felt her heart skip a beat – this must be Rina Watanabe. Against her will, her mind began to scramble again for the infinite number of things that could go wrong. She had a feeling that they had forgotten something despite all their careful planning, something important that might derail their whole scheme. Or maybe she was just being paranoid.

"You know about Kurain?" Apollo asked, and there was the sound of the door opening, immediately clarifying their conversation. Trucy knew he was feigning interest, like he often did during one of hers and Maya's never-ending fangirling conversations over the Samurai series, but otherwise, he sounded normal, like he wasn't about to do what was most likely to be the stupidest thing in his life.

"There are branches in Japan," Rina Watanabe explained in her slow, knowing voice. "I have made matches for some of these mediums before."

"I'm really not sure what this matchmaking entails," Apollo said, beginning to sound slightly nervous now as he stopped outside the broom closet. "Do you have files or something?"

"Yes. Yes I do. Would you like to see them?" she asked, sounding suddenly eager.

"Of course!" Apollo said, not very convincingly. It was enough to fool Rina Watanabe, who seemed to be rummaging in her bag for the files.

This was the sole reason that they hadn't tried to call Rina Watanabe in the first place and told her the matchmaking had been cancelled. They _needed_ those files, those bios and pictures. It would be a real problem if someone had seen forged files and realized that they weren't legitimate. It was a chance they weren't willing to take, and so they needed to get rid of Rina Watanabe _after_ they got their hands on them.

"Most people seem to think that matchmaking is just putting two people together, and that is all," she explained happily. "It is not. You have to carefully match people based on interests and values. It is quite difficult."

Apollo hmm-hmm'd his response. "Your English is quite good," he remarked absent-mindedly, and there was the sound of turning paper. He must have the files now – but he hadn't given Trucy her cue to emerge from the closet yet.

_Actually, what _was_ the cue? _Trucy thought in a moment of sudden panic. _He was supposed to say. . . something. Must think. . . must remember. . . crap, I can't remember!_

"These files are quite interesting," Apollo added, sounding increasingly nervous with each word as a panic-stricken Trucy tried to remember her cue.

"It _is_ quite interesting," agreed Rina Watanabe proudly. "The careful planning, gathering the information, it is quite a challenge to–"

Apollo coughed meaningly. "These files are quite interesting," he repeated, rather bluntly this time.

_Oh_! Trucy thought, feeling both like an idiot and like she was about to throw up from nervousness. Slowly, she eased the door open as Rina Watanabe said in confusion, "But you just said that. . ."

And then she was standing in the hallway, practically nose-to-nose with the woman she would be impersonating for the next few days, the thought flickering through her mind that they did look somewhat alike. Apollo had a tight grip on the files and was watching the two Rinas with wide brown eyes. As they stood in there in complete, shocked silence, Trucy saw a look of shock and dread slowly unfold across Apollo's face, and suddenly, she understood what exactly what was going through his wide and shiny head. She felt the bottom of her stomach drop away as it all clicked.

They had forgotten to plan how to get rid of Rina _after_ they had her files.

However, Trucy was a performer. In addition to knowing a multitude of tricks, magicians have to be good actors, and good actors have to come up with ideas on the fly. Even so, it took three whole seconds to come up with an idea, and judging by the look on Apollo's face, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Apollo and Trucy shoved Rina Watanabe inside the broom closet.

There was a babble of Japanese from the ill-fated matchmaker, the slamming of a door, and the jingle of keys turning in a lock before Apollo slumped against the broom closet, looking like he had just been hit by a bus.

Trucy, feeling weak with relief that they had at least postponed a serious problem, tried to make light of the situation – and besides, what had just happened was too ironic not to be commented on. "So, how did you like your first time locking someone in a broom closet?" she asked him brightly.

Apollo looked up at her in silence, still shocked by what he had done.

"It's a heady sense of power, isn't it?" she added, trying to get him to say _something_. "Better than getting locked inside one."

Apollo shook his head and said slowly, "We're screwed."

"Don't be like that," Trucy replied firmly. "We've avoided the worst of the situation."

"Are you kidding me?" Apollo asked her, giving her his best "You're crazy" look as the thumps and yells from inside the closet began. "If someone hears her and unlocks the door, they'll see that _she's_ the real Rina Watanabe. . . well, we're basically going to be in such huge trouble that you'll be grounded until the world ends, or until your father learns to play piano. Whichever comes first."

Trucy sighed and extended her hand toward him. Apollo, expecting her to punch him in the stomach (and with good reason), flinched away, but she grabbed the key from the lock and slipped it into one of the pockets of her robe.

"There," she said simply. "Now no one can open it."

"Yeah, and it's not suspicious at _all_ that someone is locked inside this closet, screaming Japanese and trying to bust the door down," Apollo replied sarcastiaclly.

Innocently, Trucy clasped her hands behind her back and smiled at him. "Well, if you wanted, you could go in there and keep her company," she said sweetly.

Apollo abruptly pushed himself off the wall. "Then again, who can get in without a key?" he said quickly. Then he frowned at her. "You ready?"

Trucy took a deep breath and nodded.

"You sure you can nail the accent?" Apollo added.

Trucy sighed. Her Mr. Hat trick had involved hours spent nailing down different voices and tones – she had never tried a Japanese accent, however. "I'll give it my best shot," she told him. "Now, can you _please_ stop piling on the pressure? We'll be fine."

Apollo opened his mouth to argue, then thought better of it and handed over the files, inside a thin manilla file. "Read through those," he informed her, opening the folder taking the topmost paper off the pile, "and I'll see if I can't make one for Mr. Wright, all right?"

"Just make sure you put it back," Trucy told him sternly.

"We've got plenty of time. The mediums won't be back until lunch," Apollo reminded her, beginning to walk down the hallway. "Good luck, Trucy!"

Trucy nodded and watched him until he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. When the sounds of his footsteps faded away, she noticed the bags that must have been Rina Watanabe's, including an open briefcase that was empty and must have been reserved for the files. Stowing them inside the briefcase, she closed it, picked up the other bags, and walked in the direction of what would be her room for the next few days.

It suddenly struck her how funny she must look, dressed in a long gray robe, with a long black wig, carrying a briefcase and several suitcases. She giggled and felt all the stress disappear, suddenly sure that their plan _was_ going to work out after all.

Operation Impersonation was go.

—

By the time the spirit mediums had returned from their morning retreat, it was lunchtime. As they walked into the dining hall en masse, Trucy, who had been sitting there by herself for a good half hour, noticed that while the younger mediums looked exhausted, the older women looked energized. Maya in contrast looked like she was attending a funeral. Mai, who was at the head of the pack, stopped dead when she realized Trucy – no, to Mai, she was Rina – was already sitting there, looking thoroughly bored. She had spent some time looking through the real Rina's files, but after she had read through them three times, she had decided that enough was enough, and she might as well try to see if she could get an early lunch.

"Ah, Miss Watanabe!" Mai said after a short pause, smiling broadly at Trucy. "I see you've arrived safe and sound!"

Trucy nodded, reluctant to speak in case she accidentally said something that might blow her cover. She was beginning to feel nervous again, but she had to fight those feelings and not let it show, so she merely smiled painfully at Mai.

Maya looked as if she was forcing herself to walk over to her usual seat at the head of the table. Trucy watched her and felt bad about having to keep Maya in the dark about their plan, but it was all for the best – the less people who knew, the less likely they were to be stopped.

"How was the flight over?" Mai asked, taking the seat next to Trucy's.

Trucy gulped. "It was smooth," she said to Mai slowly, trying desperately not to sound too much like herself, but also trying to make sure her words weren't forced.

Mai nodded. "I see," she said as Tallia took the seat across from Trucy. The elder was watching Trucy with an odd look on her face, and for a split second, something shifted in her eyes. Trucy felt like she was going to be sick as she stared back, but then Tallia looked away and the moment had passed. Trucy slumped back in her seat with relief as Pearl and Apollo walked into the room. Pearl looked at Trucy and smiled, then took a seat farther down the table. Apollo sat next to her, refusing to look at Trucy.

"Where's Miss Wright?" Mai asked, noticing Trucy's apparent absence.

Forgetting that she was supposed to be Rina, Trucy opened her mouth to say, "I'm right here!" Quickly, Apollo cut across her and said, "She's back in Pearl's room. She wasn't feeling very well this morning. _Right, Pearl_?" He gave her a meaningful look and an elbow in the ribs.

Pearl nodded in earnest agreement. "I think she has the flu," she added, rather helpfully.

"Oh." Mai hesitated for the moment, then turned to Trucy and explained, "We have other guests this week as well, you see. Miss Trucy Wright, the girl who is currently ill, Mr. Apollo Justice, the young man in the red suit down there – but of course you already know him–"

Trucy nodded silently, for she already knew all of the guests (for obvious reasons).

"–and then there is Mr. Wright, who unfortunately will not be joining us for lunch. He is a friend of Mystic Maya's, and Miss Wright's father," Mai concluded.

Maya looked up gloomily at the mention of her name and waved half-heartedly to Trucy. Trying to smile encouragingly, Trucy waved back.

The conversation ended then, for the food was being brought out. Trucy accepted a large bowl of miso ramen and began to take small bites, resisting the urge to shovel it into her mouth as she usually did. For one thing, while it was delicious (like Eldoon's noodles, except not as detrimental to your health), in her mouth, it currently tasted like it was made of cardboard. And for another, it would look rather suspicious if she hate like herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, Trucy noticed that Maya had been given an even bigger bowl, plus a plate with a double cheeseburger sitting on top of it. Mai gave it a disapproving look but didn't dare to berate Maya in front of whom she believed was Rina. Trucy smiled despite herself and continued eating.

After about ten minutes, Tallia looked up from her ramen and watched Trucy carefully. Feeling very self conscious, Trucy stopped eating as well and looked back at Tallia, waiting fearfully for her to speak up and accuse her of being a fake. After thirty seconds, Tallia opened her mouth, and Trucy winced, preparing herself for the worst to–

"What time do you want to hold the screening of the candidates?"

Trucy almost goggled at Tallia. _That_ had not been what she was expecting, and she didn't have an actual answer to that question. Apollo had not yet given her back the paper he had borrowed, nor given her a profile for her father – instinctively, she looked down the table at him for help. He mouthed something to her.

"What?" she mouthed back to him.

Again, an unreadable movement of the lips.

Trucy shook her head in frustration.

Apollo held up seven fingers.

"Seven o'clock," Trucy replied quickly, hoping no one had noticed their silent exchange. Luckily for her, everyone had been focussed on their food – everyone except Tallia. If anything, she looked more suspicious than ever, and Trucy reverted to her paranoid state.

However, instead of saying anything more, Tallia nodded and continued eating.

"Why seven o'clock?" Mai asked, almost disinterestedly.

Trucy nervously pushed her glasses further up her nose and said in her normal voice, "I thought–"

Pearl and Apollo both coughed at the same time, smothering her words.

Trucy quickly corrected herself and said in what was supposed to be Rina's voice, "I thought that I'd have a nap. I'm still tired from the journey. I don't sleep well on planes. And then I thought that Mr. Justice could give me a tour of the manor. It's very lovely here."

Mai smiled happily and continued to eat.

Meanwhile, Apollo was glaring at her from down the table, plainly wondering why on earth she wanted to talk to him. Trucy frowned at him and resumed eating the cardboard ramen.

—_Maya Fey—_

All while she had been freezing her butt off beneath an ice-cold waterfall in little more than a thin training robe, Maya had held on to the one vain hope that Watanabe would miss her flight, or that Pearl, Trucy, and Apollo successfully convinced her to go back to Japan, or (even better, but not even in the least bit likely) the plane would mysteriously crash en route to LA, ensuring that the matchmaker wouldn't show up in Kurain – _ever_. It was a long shot, and her wish would most likely not come true, but she could still hope.

Then she had walked into the dining hall and seen Watanabe sitting at the table, waiting for them.

Maya was not impressed.

And, worse than that, she was crushed.

She had hoped that Pearl, Trucy, and Apollo were scheming to get rid of Watanabe. All during lunch, she had to keep looking up from her meal and check to make sure that Watanabe really _was_ sitting at the table, and not floating in the middle of the Pacific. Perhaps she had expected too much, though. After all, it wasn't their fault that a matchmaker had been hired to derail hers and Phoenix's relationship, but she had still been expecting for something to happen, for them to pull of another miracle. She hated to admit it, but they were good at the whole conspiring-while-not-getting-caught thing. Better than she was at it, anyway.

And they let her down.

Maya tried to banish the thought from her head, but it always returned. She hated herself for thinking that they had failed her, but she couldn't help it – it was like a boomerang, because no matter how hard she tried to throw it away, it came right back to her and hit her in the side of the head.

Sighing, Maya turned to her food and felt like a prisoner eating their last meal before their execution.

—_Trucy Wright—_

By some miracle, Trucy made it through lunch. It seemed that she had set everyone, even Mai, on edge – there hadn't been much in the way of conversation, just the polite exchanges one normally had over meals. Pearl had asked to be excused early, and when her wish was granted, she flashed Trucy a secretive thumbs-up before scurrying out of the dining hall, doubtlessly to make sure that she was in her room in time to intercept anyone who wanted to check on Trucy's condition. About ten minutes afterward, the rest of the mediums were officially dismissed, and Mai offered to accompany Trucy to her room. Trucy, for obvious reasons, refused.

"I think I remember the way," she lied. She knew the way perfectly well – it was just that she needed to meet up with Apollo to smooth out the considerable problem that was currently locked inside a broom closet. She still had the key in her pocket, but she couldn't unlock the door with it until they had figured out a way to get rid of Rina.

Mai looked offended, but Trucy hurriedly brushed past her and hurried into the hall. Apollo was waiting around the corner – he nodded in the general direction of the broom closet, then hurried on his way. Trucy returned to her (Rina's?) room and hurriedly stuffed another pillow person inside her bedding to make it look as if she was sleeping, then snuck to the meeting place outside the broom closet.

Thankfully, training had resumed now that lunch was over, and the halls of the Fey Manor were empty. No one saw her sneaking furtively through the halls like some kind of demented secret agent, pressing herself against walls and peeking around corners before scurrying down the next hallway. At last, she saw Apollo, leaning inconspicuously against the closet door. He looked up at the sound of her footsteps and frowned.

"Why did you want to talk to me?" he asked.

"Well firstly, I need those profiles back before seven. Secondly, we need to figure out how to get rid of the actual Rina Watanabe." Trucy hesitated, then added happily, "And thirdly, you need to work on mouthing words."

Apollo scowled but decided it would be best to be the adult in this situation. "It's _hard_ to make a positive, vague bio for your dad," he informed Trucy.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, propping her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

Apollo winced. "Well, how are you supposed to portray a piano player who can't play piano in a good light?" Trucy opened her mouth to retort, but he said quickly, "I'm working on it. It'll be done by seven, I promise."

Trucy nodded happily. "All right then. So, what about the real Rina? What are we supposed to do to her?"

Apollo looked at the broom closet. The thumps had long since stopped – doubtlessly, Rina was exhausted from all the hammering on the door – but he had no idea what she would do if they opened the closet. "I have no sweet clue," he replied, scratching his head.

"Maybe we could bribe her to leave Kurain?" Trucy suggested, not very seriously.

Apollo stared at her in exasperation. "You're kidding, right?" he asked. "What are we supposed to bribe her _with_, Trucy? We don't have any money, in case you didn't–"

He stopped talking suddenly, staring at something over Trucy's shoulder in absolute horror. Trucy waved a hand in front of his face, wondering what was wrong with him, before she heard a voice behind them.

"Trucy? Hmm. And I thought she was Rina Watanabe."

Trucy felt herself stiffen. Apollo looked as if he was going to faint now as he grabbed the doorknob of the closet for support. Slowly, against her will, Trucy turned to face the newcomer, feeling a bucket of ice cascade into her stomach as she saw one of the people she least wanted to be standing there.

Tallia.

* * *

**. . . -plays T&T Cornered theme-**

**I honestly couldn't resist the thought of locking Rina inside a broom closet. Besides, she needed to be hidden somehow. And anyway, there are enough clear parallels to Overdue – another one couldn't hurt, could it? XD**

**I'm sure you lot want to kill me right now for cutting it off at that point. What will Tallia do? Bust them? Let them continue? Who knows? (Well, I do, because I'm writing the fic in the first place. But you don't. XDD)**


	7. The Candidates

**I was originally going to put this chapter up last week, but some. . . dramatic things happened lately. Really dramatic things. (Life sucks sometimes.) So clearly, updating this wouldn't be anywhere near the top of my list. But I digress.**

**Anyway, this chapter = fail. Well, it's probably not that bad, (XD) but it definitely could have been better. I just wanted to get to the next chapter because I **_**really**_** want to write about the candidates. . . particularly number two. You'll see why in a couple of chapters or so. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The Candidates**

Trucy and Apollo stared at Tallia in crushed dismay. Their brains, slowed down considerably by sheer panic, didn't register the fact that Tallia didn't look the least bit angry. In fact, she looked amused and a bit curious as she walked toward them, the hem of her robe swishing across the floor until she stopped a foot away from them.

Desperately, Trucy coughed and tried to save herself. "I'm not Trucy," she said in what was supposed to be Rina's voice.

Tallia smiled broadly. "You can drop the act, Miss Wright. I knew that you weren't Rina when I saw you in the dining hall," she informed Trucy.

Trucy felt her heart sink. The mediums had only been back an hour, and already, their plan was completely wrecked. It was a new record. And if Tallia had seen through her disguise, some of the other elders must have, too.

"Why are you here and not training with the others?" Apollo asked weakly, obviously trying to buy time so that he could figure out exactly what this meant for them and if their plan could still be saved.

"Elders are entitled to the privilege of excusing themselves from a small period of training time," Tallia explained. "We don't exercise it often, but I said that I just wanted to double-check on your condition, Miss Wright. But the real question you want to ask, Mr. Justice, is how I _knew_ the truth at dinner."

Apollo nodded.

"I wouldn't have known, but I met the real Rina Watanabe only three months ago," Tallia explained, almost carelessly. "It was on an exchange trip with a medium from the Japanese following of Kurain. I was the only one who wanted to go, you see. . . in any case, we met over in Japan, and her face and voice is still fresh enough in my memory to tell the difference between the real Rina and yourself."

Trucy slumped and couldn't help but think, _And I thought I was doing such a good job, too. . ._

"However, I'm the only one who realized that you weren't Rina, Trucy," Tallia added, almost kindly. "I'm the only one who's ever met her."

"Really? So you won't tell anyone?" Trucy asked eagerly.

Tallia didn't make any move to reply. She merely raised her eyebrow in silence, waiting.

Apollo's face paled. "Really, we don't mean any harm by it," he babbled in a last-ditch effort to persuade Tallia not to turn them in. "It's just that, well, the only reason this whole matchmaking thing was arranged was because Elder Mai wanted to keep Mr. Wright away from Maya, and, well–"

"It's not right," Trucy continued for him, allowing Apollo to lapse into grateful silence. "I think that Maya and Daddy are happier with each other than anyone else. Me and Apollo and Pearl–"

"Apollo, Pearl, and I," Apollo corrected automatically.

"–just wanted to make sure that they were happy. That's all," Trucy finished, ignoring his interruption. "We didn't mean to lock Rina Watanabe inside a broom closet."

Tallia's eyebrows shot up at this. "You locked her in a broom closet?" she echoed, as if she didn't believe them.

Ashamed, Apollo pointed toward the door to the broom closet. Trucy removed the key from her pocket and handed it over to Tallia apologetically. "We didn't plan that far ahead," she admitted, almost embarrassed by their lack of foresight.

Tallia sighed in disappointment as she accepted the key, but she didn't try to unlock the door. Instead, she asked, "Why should I keep your secret?"

Trucy felt her face blanch. "No! You _have_ to!" she begged Tallia. "You didn't want Miss Watanabe to come and wreck Maya's and Daddy's relationship. I know you didn't. Please, this is the only way. . ."

Suddenly, Tallia pushed her way between Apollo and Trucy, shoved the key in the lock, and unlocked the door to the broom closet. Trucy gasped as she opened the door a crack and peered inside. There was an incoherent cry of delight from the unfortunate woman inside, convinced that she was about to be set freed – then Tallia closed the door and locked it again, and the cry of delight turned into a groan. Tallia turned to face Trucy and Apollo, her face thoughtful, as if pondering something deeply.

"While I can't say I approve of your methods," she said finally, her words slow as if she were weighing them in her mind, "you're doing it for a good cause. I believe that I could. . . _forget_ about this. I just have a question – do you know what you're going to do with Rina now?"

Trucy and Apollo shook their heads in unison.

Tallia sighed. "Wait here, you two." She unlocked the door again and stepped inside. Before she closed the door behind her, she said, "Rina? Is that you?"

When the door was shut, it cut off whatever Rina's response was. Trucy pushed Apollo out of the way and knelt down on the floor, pressing her ear against the keyhole. She could faintly hear the two women speaking before Apollo tapped her on the shoulder and whispered to her, "What are they saying?"

"Shush," she reprimanded him sternly. "I'm trying to listen."

Grumbling, Apollo sat down against the wall. It sounded like he was saying, "Fine. Be all snobby. See if I care." Trucy ignored him and continued to listen to the conversation beyond the door.

"–Rina, I understand that you are upset," Tallia was saying patiently, her voice barely audible. "I _know_ that being locked in a closet is not a great way to welcome someone to Kurain. They didn't mean any harm by it."

Rina said something, but it was too quiet and fast for individual words to be made out properly. However, Tallia must have heard her, because she said, "Yes, it was only the two of them. No one else here wanted you to be subjected to such unwelcomeness. But you see, we don't require your services as a matchmaker any longer–"

"Why not?" Rina demanded hotly.

There was a long silence as both Rinas waited for the answer. At last, Tallia replied, "Because Mystic Maya doesn't need a matchmaker, that's why."

"I spent months waiting for you to call and make the appointment and flew all the way from Japan, just for you to tell me that my services are not required?" Rina asked furiously.

"It seems that way, yes."

"Well, I will not waste my time. I will do what I came here to do, and that is final." There was the sound of footsteps, as if Rina was about to burst through the door, and Trucy instinctively threw herself away from the door before she was hit as Apollo gave her one of his best "You're crazy" looks. The footsteps stopped abruptly, and the door did not open – cautiously, Trucy crept back to listen through the keyhole again. There was scuffling coming from inside, as if Tallia was trying to hold Rina back, away from the door.

"Rina, you need to calm down," she said, panting slightly from the effort of holding the other woman down. "Think about it for a minute. Mystic Maya. . . she doesn't really need this. She's in love with someone else, and if she were to get married to a different man, it's my guess they wouldn't stay married long. You'll be credited with a failed marriage – a failed marriage of someone _important_. If you walk now, there will be a successful match, and you will get the credit for it."

Rina hesitated for a moment, as if thinking it over.

"I'll also pay you your fee," Tallia added.

"No, no," Rina said, though she sounded as if it was difficult for her to say, and not because of the language barrier. "They would keep a divorce quiet. They always–"

"Double."

The word was quiet, and Trucy had to strain to hear it.

". . . Double what?" Rina asked, though she seemed to know full well what Tallia was talking about.

"I'll pay you double," Tallia whispered, and there was a note of pleading in her voice when she added, "Please. Just take it."

Trucy unglued her ear from the door in shock. Tallia was willing to pay _double_ just so their plan would have a chance? It was great that Tallia was on their side. . . but that was a bit too much, wasn't it?

_Then again, I don't know how much Rina gets paid anyway, _Trucy thought. _It could be just a little. It might not be that big of a deal._

She shut out the sneaking suspicion that matchmakers were paid more than what she, Phoenix, and Apollo managed to pull in combined (which wasn't saying much).

"How's it going?" Apollo whispered to Trucy.

Trucy hesitated, then replied, "I think that Tallia will convince her to leave."

Satisfied, Apollo nodded, but didn't move from his position by the wall.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Tallia stepped outside, closing the door softly behind her. She brushed some stray hair out of her face as Trucy shot to her feet. Apollo took his time getting up, but he looked a little fearful at the blank expression on Tallia's face.

"Well?" he asked quietly.

Tallia pursed her lips, then said, "She's going out on the next train, in about an hour."

Trucy let out a sigh of relief.

"You'd better go back to your room," Tallia instructed her in a low voice. "And I must be getting back to training. It's not good to miss too much of it, after all. See you at supper, Rina."

She winked, then hurried down the hallway in the direction of the meditation room. Trucy watched her go, beginning to feel ashamed of herself for forcing Tallia into complying with their scheme, but there wasn't much else she could do.

Except make sure there plan was a success.

—_Maya Fey—_

"Are you sure you don't want me to come, Maya?"

Maya sighed before Phoenix had even finished his sentence. "I've told you, I'll be fine," she lied to him for the umpteenth time in the past half hour. She took a big bite out of her cheeseburger, swallowed, and added, "It's no big deal."

"If it's no big deal," Phoenix asked as Maya finished off her cheeseburger and reached for another one on a nearby plate, "how come you've just eaten your fifth burger since the movie started?"

Maya scowled. "I eat cheeseburgers even if I'm in a good mood," she reminded him. They were supposed to be watching one of Mia's favourite movies (the first one that had made her cry. . . _What was it called again? _Maya wondered vaguely) but neither of them were paying much attention to it, despite the fact that the purpose of watching it was to keep them both distracted during the brief break between suppertime and the first meeting with Watanabe.

"You also just had supper," Phoenix reminded her, reaching across Maya and grabbing her plate of cheeseburgers. "These are all going to catch up to you someday, you know, and you'll be as big as a house."

"Kind of like you, I guess. But until that happens, I'll keep eating, thank you very much," Maya retorted, attempting and failing to be funny.

Phoenix sighed and shook his head. "You always overeat when you're upset."

"I do not!" Maya retorted hotly.

Phoenix merely looked at her.

Maya deflated. "Okay, I do," she admitted. "And yeah, I'm probably not going to be fine. But you wouldn't even be allowed in the meeting anyway. You should go visit Trucy."

"I already tried that this afternoon, when I found out she was sick," Phoenix pointed out. "It would have been nice if they had, you know, _told _me that my daughter had the flu. And it would have been even nicer if Pearls had let me in to see her."

"Yeah, that _was_ weird," Maya agreed. Before afternoon training had commenced, she had gone to ask Phoenix how Trucy was doing. Phoenix, having no idea that his daughter was sick, immediately rushed off to Pearl's room, with Maya in tow. When Pearl opened the door, she looked surprised.

"Mystic Maya, Mr. Nick! What are you doing in here?" asked Pearl, looking both surprised and a bit anxious.

"How's Trucy?" Phoenix demanded.

Maya leaned around Phoenix and added, "He just found out that Trucy was sick."

"She's, um, sleeping," Pearl said, looking as if she was uncomfortable by being put on the spot like this. "Sh. You don't want to disturb her." She made to close the door.

Phoenix stuck his foot between the door and the frame to keep it open. "Can I see her, Pearls?" he asked.

Pearl shook her head. "You wouldn't want to do that. She's still throwing up."

"I thought you just said that she was sleeping," Phoenix said, rather suspiciously.

Pearl nodded earnestly, looking panic-stricken. "I gave her something, and it made her sleepy. I know how to care for her, Mr. Nick. She's all right with me."

This time, she succeeded in closing the bedroom door. There was a scraping noise, and then silence, and when Phoenix tried to open the door again, it wouldn't budge. Pearl had barricaded herself inside.

The sound of the door opening jolted Maya from her daze. Looking up, she saw Tallia standing in the doorway of the family room, a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the consultation with Miss Watanabe is starting. Mystic Maya, do you mind coming with me?"

Maya looked sideways at Phoenix, who took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

"Good luck," he whispered to her.

Maya nodded, a lump forming in her throat, and stood up to leave. "Bye, Nick. See you later," she said, then turned and walked out of the room. Tallia led the way, in the direction of the Main Room, feeling as if she was walking to the gallows.

After a few minutes, Tallia said, "You're awfully quiet, Mystic Maya."

Maya didn't reply.

"It's quiet all right to be nervous," Tallia continued, "but don't worry, Rina will match you with the perfect someone. She _is_ quiet a skilled matchmaker, after all. She's had at least one immensely successful match in the past six months. The couple involved don't seem to be about to break up, either. You're in good hands."

Maya, who of course had no idea who Tallia was talking about, merely shrugged and continued on her way to the Main Room.

At last, they reached their destination, and Maya slipped into her place at the head of the table. Most of the elders were present, for while it _technically _wasn't an elder meeting, they all wanted to be there and see the matches that Watanabe had found for her. Watanabe herself was sitting to Maya's left, and to her right was Mai (unfortunately, Tallia was further down the table – Maya would have preferred having one of her only supporters nearby).

"Now that you've arrived, Mystic Maya," Mai said, sounding deeply dissatisfied with Maya's tardiness, "we can start screening the candidates. Miss Watanabe, would you please show us your candidates?"

Watanabe coughed and opened a manilla folder. She glanced at Maya briefly, smiling encouragingly, and it struck her that something about this woman seemed. . . familiar somehow. Then she shook it off as Watanabe began by saying, "We have here ten candidates. Most of these profiles are complete – unfortunately, one or two were added at the last minute, and full profiles could not be provided."

"That's perfectly all right," Mai said instantly, and Maya could tell that she would probably be terminating those people right away.

"I was thinking that May–I mean, Miss Fey – would like to chose three of these men to start off with, in the order in which she would like to meet them." Watanabe pulled the files out of her folder and shuffled them around. "This first man is a successful director named Sal Manella. . ."

"_No_," Maya said quickly, without even thinking.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Maya slumped in her chair and muttered to the top of the table, "I've met him before. He wouldn't really be a good match for me. And plus, he's in his forties or something. That's way too old."

Watanabe squinted at her file. "It says here that he's only twenty-four. . ." she said.

"He's in his forties," confirmed one of the elders down the table. Everyone turned to look at her, and she shrugged. "He's a big director. _Everyone_ knows how old he is."

Mai nodded. "That's understandable, then," she said, to Maya's surprise and relief. "This Sal Manella is no longer under consideration."

Watanabe nodded and put his file off to the side. "Next is Phillip Manella," she said, squinting at the next sheet of paper. "I believe he is Sal's much younger brother. . . in any case, he is a fledgling script writer with extreme talent who is currently working on the Pollen Samurai. He is about twenty-eight years old – not much older than Miss Fey. Here's a picture."

Watanabe handed Maya a picture. Expecting someone who highly resembled Sal, Maya was surprised to see a handsome young man with dark brown hair and a white-toothed smile. She handed the picture to Mai, who nodded, smiling.

"I think he would be a good choice," Mai said, handing the picture back to Watanabe.

"But–" Maya tried to say, knowing that her only chance at getting out of this was to reject all of the candidates that Watanabe gave her.

"_He is a good choice_," Mai said, with such finality that Maya quailed.

"All right then," Watanabe said, seemingly unaffected by this exchange and setting Phillip's file onto another pile. "Next up, we have. . ."

They made their way surprisingly quickly through the small pile of profiles. By the end of the ninth bio, they had chosen two men that Maya apparently would like to meet in person (Phillip Manella being the first, and a man named Jeffery Ewens, who owned a five star hotel in LA that Maya had never heard of before). The rest had been rejected. There was only one profile left, and Maya wished that Watanabe would just read the information and get it over with, instead of fiddling with the lone paper.

At last, Watanabe stopped fiddling with the paper, coughed one more time, then began to read, "This man was a last-minute addition, so sadly, his bio is sadly lacking. His name is Nick W. – I assume "Nick" is short for Nicholas. He is a successful business owner in L.A., with a college degree from Ivy U. He is a bit older than our other candidates – he's in his early thirties – but he would very much like to be considered by Miss Fey."

"Why not," Maya said, having been staring off into the distance during most of Watanabe's monologue, her eyes brimming with tears. She had given up on her "rejection-of-all-candidates" plan when Mai had told her halfway through that if she wasn't going to pick any of the men, then she would, and Maya had a sneaking suspicion that Mai would throw in Sal Manella out of pure spite if she didn't pick this man. "I'll meet him third."

Watanabe nodded happily. "All right. You'll be meeting Phillip Manella first, then Mr. Ewens, and then Nicholas W. I've set the first meeting for tomorrow night, so I'll just go call Mr. Manella. Is that all right?"

Mai nodded, and Watanabe left the room. Then Mai turned to the rest of the elders and told them, "Well, you heard what she said. Mr. Manella will be arriving tomorrow evening to meet Mystic Maya, so I believe it would be best if we took the afternoon off of training tomorrow, and that we all go to bed early. You are dismissed."

Everyone got up at once, but no one could have beaten Maya's time – she had sprinted through the door before they could have even moved. She half-ran down the hallway and smashed into Phoenix and Apollo, who were waiting patiently for the meeting to end.

"How did it go?" Phoenix asked instantly, grabbing Maya by the arm so that she didn't hit the ground.

Maya pulled herself upright, took a deep, steadying breath, and said calmly, "It sucked."

"It was that bad, huh?" Phoenix asked.

Maya nodded. "Sal Manella was one of the people that Miss Watanabe found for me."

Phoenix stared at her in shock. "That _is _bad," he said.

"I know!" Apollo sounded just as surprised. "He's in his forties."

Phoenix and Maya turned to look at Apollo in bemusement.

Apollo ducked his head. "He's a big director," he mumbled. "You'd have to live under a rock not to know how old he is. And, um, I just forgot that I left. . . something on. I think. I'd better go check." He hurried down the hallway before he could say anything else. Phoenix shook his head – Maya, despite the fact that she felt more like crying than anything, snorted.

"He is so a closet fan of the Samurai series," she said. The mention of the Samurai series, however, quickly ended her temporary good humour, something which she had never expected to happen. "And speaking of the Samurai shows, the first guy I'm meeting is Sal's younger brother. Phillip or something like that. He's the scriptwriter for the Pollen Samurai."

"Well, it can't be _that _bad," Phoenix said, in an attempt to be comforting as Maya sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her as he added, "You get to meet someone involved in the Samurai shows."

"Yeah, but that's not the point," Maya argued. "I don't want to end up having to marry _any _of those guys. I only added the last guy – Nicholas or something – to the list because he was the last one there, and if I didn't pick someone, I figured Mai would put Sal Manella in his spot."

"Just refuse all of them," Phoenix suggested with a wise nod. "She can't make you pick any of them. I think."

"She can," Maya confirmed, looking up at the ceiling. "I know she will."

They sat in silence for a while, undisturbed by any passersby. Maya leaned against Phoenix, staring at the opposite wall, wishing that she hadn't become the Master. If her sister hadn't left to become a lawyer, she would have become the Master instead, and this would be her problem, not Maya's.

. . . Then again, if Mia had never become a lawyer, she never would have met Phoenix.

"I wish Sis was here," Maya murmured.

"Hmm?"

"I wish Sis was here," Maya repeated, a bit more loudly. "She was pretty good at sticking up for people. . . I think she wouldn't have let Mai do any of this to me if she were still alive."

Phoenix nodded in reply. "Yeah. Almost makes you wish you had the power to communicate with the dead, right?"

"Very funny," Maya replied.

They lapsed into silence again, Maya wishing she could stay out in the hallway with Phoenix forever, and Phoenix thinking about Maya's wish, and that maybe, there was something he could do after all.

* * *

**. . . Yeah. I know what you're all thinking. "Nick W? How can no one see through **_**that**_**?"**

**That was honestly the best, unrevealing name I could come up with, since only Maya calls Phoenix Nick, and no one could exactly call him a "successful businessman." My only other option was calling him "P. Wright". That's even worse. :p**


	8. Phillip Manella

**Well, basketball is over for me, so I have more time to write. Hopefully, I'll finish this in April (I'll be going for either ten or eleven chapters, it all depends on how things go). Then I can take a break for a while from writing this pairing.**

**In this chapter, we kind have a flashbackesque moment that involves none other than. . . Morgan~ -cue ominous music- (Flashbacks = love. Seriously. 8D) Plus a moment in which Maya completely and utterly pwns Mai. No, there is not any punching involved. Yet. :)**

**iryna: Yeah, I know. Sal Manella creeps me out. :P**

**FB: Dude, I'm not going to bite your head off because you pointed out a contradiction in something I said. XD Yeah, I forgot that Larry was the one who originally called Phoenix "Nick," but I kind of meant that Maya's the only one in the village who really calls him Nick. Unless Larry's hiding in Kurain or something. Oh, plot twist idea! (Just kidding. XD)**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Phillip Manella**

The next evening at six o'clock sharp, a very expensive-looking but mud-splattered black car pulled up in front of the Fey Manor. Most of the elders and acolytes were clumped around the windows, watching as Phillip Manella and a man and a woman, presumably his parents, exited the car to shake hands with Watanabe, who had been waiting outside for them. Phoenix had disappeared about half an hour earlier, when the mediums had first begun their stakeout. He said that he had some paperwork to be catching up on, but Maya, knowing how much he hated paperwork, suspected that he was going to try to bust Pearl out of her room for an hour or two of freedom while everyone was occupied, or else try for the fifth time that day to check on Trucy's condition. Possibly even both.

Maya watched reluctantly as Watanabe gently steered Phillip in the direction of the manor. Immediately, everyone around the windows scattered, the elders gathering around the doorway as the acolytes rushed off to check on the preparations for dinner. A moment later, the door opened, and Phillip stood framed in the doorway. He was so tall that Maya had to crane her neck just to be able to look him in the face, and he was wearing a rather plain black suit. His tie, however, was not so plain – the Pollen Samurai was emblazoned in an eye-burningly yellow-green colour on a neon pink background. It was quite the off-setting colour combination.

Maya had expected to hate him on sight. But there was something in his face that stopped her from doing so, and she had no clue it was. (She refused to let herself believe it was solely because he was a scriptwriter for a Samurai show, even though that was probably the reason.) He smiled as they were introduced and kissed the back of her hand, but after that, he stared off into space as his parents and Mai wandered off a distance, probably to plan out their wedding.

With a sigh, Tallia turned her back on Mai and said to Phillip, "Mr. Manella, you're a scriptwriter for the latest Samurai series, are you not?"

Phillip nodded, coming out of his trance and looked at Tallia. "Yes, I am."

"Mystic Maya is a fan of the shows," Tallia explained to him. "In fact, she was watching your show's premiere just the other day."

Phillip turned to face Maya. "Did you like it?" he asked.

"It was. . . okay," Maya lied coolly. She hadn't been paying that much attention to the TV, but all that mattered was that she came off as completely uninterested in him and anything associated with him. Even if it meant _not_ acting like a rabid Samurai fangirl, something that Phoenix had said (at least three times a day since they had first met) she would never be able to do.

Phillip shrugged. "Understandable. Most people thought that the Samurai series started going downhill after the Nickel Samurai. The kids don't care, but everyone else thought that Sal Manella was the best scriptwriter that Global Studios ever had."

"Nuh-uh! The Booger Samurai was _totally_ awesome, and that was written by the Loudres dude!" Maya disagreed quickly. Then, remembering too late that she had decided to stop acting like a fangirl, she added, "Not like I, you know, care or anything."

Phillip shook his head, and Maya swore she thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. _Great, he thinks I'm amusing. Well, that sucks, _she thought.

This was going to be a long night.

—

Dinner was held inside, on account of the fact that it had started to rain yet again outside. It seemed as if Mr. and Mrs. Manella and Mai were the best friends, the way they had their heads together during the meal. Maya sat across from Phillip, with Tallia on her right side. Except for Tallia, who peppered Phillip with questions, they ate in complete silence, and as the meal wore on, Mai's mood changed from absolutely ecstatic to concern. Mr. and Mrs. Manella (who were actually Sal's aunt and uncle, according to Phillip) also looked worried that the two of them weren't getting along very well.

Halfway through the meal, after Tallia's tenth or eleventh question directed at Phillip, Maya had to wonder whose side she was on. As far back as she could remember, Tallia had always been the one to stick up for her, she and Mia both. Maya specifically remembered having to complete twenty of the most exhausting training drills after her aunt Morgan had caught her drawing on the folding screen. She had only been five or six at the time, and on the sixteenth drill, which was basically chanting random words while standing for six hours beneath a waterfall, she nearly caught hypothermia. Tallia, who had apparently been combing the village for several hours looking for her, had mercifully arrived and rescued her five hours after she had begun.

Morgan had not been amused.

"She drew on the _folding screen_!" Morgan had screeched at Tallia as the elder carried a shivering, sleepy Maya away from the waterfalls. "A sacred treasure of Kurain Village! She must be punished, and what better punishment than this?"

"She's barely old enough to stand under a waterfall for ten minutes without getting sick, let alone six hours," Tallia reminded Morgan firmly. "It'll be a miracle if she doesn't have a nasty cold after this. Good grief, woman, no wonder that husband of yours left with your two little girls. You have no idea how to handle young children."

Morgan bristled at this. "How dare you insinuate that was _my_ fault? It's that disgrace's fault!"

"She," Tallia said firmly, "is not a disgrace, nor the reason your husband left. And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't use such words to describe this girl's mother in front of her."

"She's asleep. She can't hear us," Morgan replied frostily.

Maya, who wasn't asleep but was very close, fought to stay awake. This was far more interesting than the colourful language Morgan had uttered when she'd found Maya leaning over the screen with a pink crayon in her hand.

"In any case," Tallia continued coolly, "Mystic Maya's too young, especially for this kind of training. Mystic Mia might be able to handle it, but she is ten years older and the direct heir to the title of the Master. Both have an abundance of spiritual power, but Mystic Maya need not go through such rigorous training – unless, of course, circumstances change."

Maya had noticed the ominous tone of Tallia's voice as she had added those last few words, but it had been another few years before she had realized that Tallia knew something that Morgan and herself did not: that Mia had already planned to pass the title of the Master onto her little sister.

"You and her, you're both the same," Morgan said disgustedly. "Soft. If she'd set the folding screen on fire, you'd probably hand her a strawberry dessert and send her off to watch some of that dratted television show. It's what _she_ would have done."

Tallia sighed in exasperation and stopped walking, turning instead to glare at Morgan "No, I would have punished her, but not in this way," she said icily. "Training is meant to be that – training, not punishment. A ban on watching TV would be a much better punishment. And yet, you completely overreact, just as you have always done, and abuse your power as the sister of the Master. I'm glad that you were not powerful enough to keep the Master's seat. You would have been the worst Master in the history of the Fey clan."

"At least I wouldn't leave the village," Morgan argued hotly. "At least I wouldn't disgrace the name of Kurain with such a mistake."

"You'll never forgive her, will you?" Tallia asked quietly, gazing steadily at Morgan. "For all that you're sisters, you can't let it go and accept that you are not the Master. You never will be able to. Never."

And that was when Maya finally succumbed to sleepiness, wondering why Tallia and Morgan spoke with such hate in their voices. She hadn't completely understood everything they had said, but as the years had passed, the memory of that conversation had stuck in her mind, and after her aunt had been arrested on conspiracy charges, she had revisited the memory, trying to make sense of it. She now knew that the "she" Morgan had spoken of was her mother, and that for some reason, Morgan had hated Tallia, and vice versa. Morgan's hatred of her mother was understandable – her hatred of Tallia made no sense. All Maya really knew for sure was that Tallia was supportive enough of her to argue with a furious Morgan (who was scary even when she wasn't angry) on her behalf. So why Tallia was seemingly in support of Mai's matchmaking scheme completely confused her.

Deciding that she would have to derail this by herself, Maya tried to formulate a plan that would ensure she had at least one more night of freedom. She had only come up with one that might actually work (throw up on him) and was trying to think of something less messy and disgusting when Tallia asked Phillip to talk with her in the hallway. Mai and Phillip's parents watched in silence as he stood up and exited the room with Tallia.

Wondering what the elder was up to, Maya continued to eat, watching the door for any sign of their return. They were gone for five minutes, and when they returned, Tallia had a surprise for them.

"I think that now we've all finished eating, that we should give Mr. and Mrs. Manella a tour of the Manor," Tallia announced to the room. "I also think that Mystic Maya and Phillip should go out to the Winding Way for a bit. Just to get to know each other a little better."

Mai nodded enthusiastically as Maya's heart sank. _Great, alone time with pretty-boy, _she thought. _Why did you have to choose _now_ to flip sides, Elder Tallia?_

"That's an excellent idea, Elder Tallia," Mai said, absolutely beaming. "Mr. and Mrs. Manella, do you mind?"

As everyone hurried to say that they thought the idea an excellent one, Phillip gazed steadily at Maya. "We should probably head out to the Winding Way," he said, the first words besides "Good evening" he had said to her all night.

Maya shrugged, stood up, and led the way out of the room and out to the Winding Way. It was still raining, but as long as they stayed beneath the sheltered pathway, they would stay dry. For a few minutes, they stood there, Phillip taking in the small little garden, Maya staring at the ceiling in a thoroughly bored fashion, hoping he took the hint.

After about five minutes, Phillip turned to face her and said, rather bluntly, "You have absolutely no interest in this matchmaking thing, do you?"

Maya looked up, startled. She hadn't expected him to ask _that_, of all things. Without thinking, she said, "Not really. I don't really want to marry you." Then, catching herself, she added quickly, "No offence or anything, but–"

Phillip shrugged and grinned at her. "Yes, that woman Tallia told me that this was arranged without your consent. Don't feel badly – I hadn't even known you existed until my parents told me about it last night."

Maya just stared at him.

His grin grew wider. "Doubtlessly, we've been entered into this whole matchmaking business as part of a money grab. I actually have a girlfriend, whom I think would have killed me when she found out if she hadn't known how greedy my parents are."

Maya let out a sigh of relief. So, Tallia had actually helped her after all. She'd probably noticed that Phillip seemed as uninterested in her as she was in him, or else done some research on him and discovered he was dating someone, then done the math herself. "Oh, thank God," she said as relief flowed throughout her body, making her feel weak. For support, she leaned against the wall and added, "I've got a boyfriend. You know Elder Mai, the one who's been scheming with your parents, planning out our wedding? She doesn't like him. That, and to see if the Fey family can get any extra money or prestige out of it, is the only reason we're here at all."

Phillip nodded. "Tallia told me. You're dating. . . Phoenix Wright, correct?"

"You've heard of him?"

Phillip nodded again and explained, "Everyone at Global Studios has heard of Phoenix Wright. He was sort of the reason one of our producers and our biggest action stars were arrested a while back."

Maya winced.

"It's all right. He also saved another of our biggest action stars from jail, and gave us plenty of exposure in the papers. We've made quite the comeback thanks to him." Phillip twiddled his thumbs for a while, then said, "So, what do we say when we go back in there? That we don't think it would work out?"

"We _could_ say that," Maya said, as a completely evil but irresistible thought began to form in her mind, and a smile unfolded on her lips as she added, "or we could go out with a bang."

Phillip tilted his head to one side, thinking it over. After a moment or so, a smile spread across his face. "All right, I'm game. What are you thinking of?"

—

Phillip and Maya found the others in one of the sitting rooms, talking amongst themselves as they waited for their return. Tallia was the first to notice them, standing in the doorway, holding hands. Maya saw the woman's eyebrows shoot up into her black hair, but otherwise, she didn't say a word. Gradually, everyone else noticed them, and a silence fell across the room. Glancing at Mai, Maya saw that the elder looked both shocked and wildly pleased. Maya fought to keep herself from bursting into laughter. Her face would be wearing a different expression in a moment or so.

"Maya and I have come to a decision," Phillip announced to the room at large. "We think it's going to work. We're going to get married."

The room burst into applause. Tallia and the other two like-minded elders seemed to be only clapping out of politeness – all of them looked stunned. The other elders and Phillip's parents looked as if they had just won the lottery.

When the applause died down, Mai stood up and said, "Well then, I suppose we have a wedding to plan, don't we?"

"Oh, no need to plan one on our account. See, we've decided we're going to elope," Maya said cheerfully.

Everyone stared at them in shock for several minutes.

Maya and Phillip beamed at them.

Tallia looked as if she was about to break a rib from containing her laughter.

Mr. Manella was the first to come around. "E-Elope?" he asked, as if he had never heard the word before.

Phillip nodded. "Yep. What's the point of waiting now that our minds are made up?"

"Exactly right!" Maya chimed in. "We're off to Vegas tonight. We'll send you guys a postcard while we're there."

At last, Mai came back to earth. "You're kidding me," she said bluntly, a completely dumbfounded look plastered on her face.

Maya shook her head, crossing her fingers behind her back. "Of course not!" she said earnestly. "I have to admit, I wasn't sure this would work, Elder Mai, but this is the best thing that's ever happened to me! Phil's the best."

Mai shook her head. "I don't believe you," she said, beginning to regain some of her usual attitude. "You're lying to us."

Maya inwardly cursed her. Why couldn't the stupid woman agree with her, just once? In her mind, there was only one way to "prove" that they weren't lying, and she would prefer to avoid it if possible.

"I'm not! We're a perfect match!" Maya exclaimed, stalling.

"Miss Watanabe is a genius," Phillip agreed, smiling at Watanabe, who looked as if she'd been hit by a bus.

Mai continued to shake her head, staring at Maya and Phillip with a look of skepticism on her face. "This is some kind of elaborate plan. I don't know to what purpose it serves, but I know you well, Mystic Maya. You're lying through your teeth."

Maya restrained a sigh. If she didn't do something drastic, and fast, they were going to blow it. Wishing they had just gone with Phillip's "it's not working out" approach, but it was too late now to fix things.

"If we're lying, would we do this?" she asked Mai. Turning so that her back was to the room, she discreetly planted a hand over Phillip's mouth before giving him a long, long kiss.

Maya heard a couple of people gasp behind her, and something that sounded like someone being strangled (she suspected that Tallia was losing her battle with laughter). After counting to thirty, she broke away from Phillip and removed her hand from his mouth. That was when she noticed someone standing in the hallway behind Phillip – Phoenix. He was staring through the doorway, and as she watched, he rubbed his eyes and continued to stare, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just seen.

"I'll explain later," she mouthed to him. "Don't worry about it."

Phoenix blinked and turned to continue down the hallway, shaking his head. Maya thought she heard him say, "Why'd I start dating a Fey again? They're all crazy. . ."

Thankfully, she and Phillip had blocked the doorway, so no one except Maya had seen Phoenix. It could have had some ramifications on their plan. Turning to face the room again, she grinned and said, "See?"

Mai mouthed wordlessly at them for several seconds. At last, finding her voice once more, she said, "I. . . see. I think."

Maya nodded happily. "Anyway, Phil and I've decided we're going to be travelling a lot. He's going to quit writing scripts and I'm going to quit being the Master so that we have more free time to do that stuff. So Pearly can be Master instead of me."

At this, Mr. and Mrs. Manella stood up. Mrs. Manella said to Mai, "We will not stand for this. We're leaving. Come along, Phillip, we're going back to LA."

Phillip half-attempted to protest as his parents argued with him. At last, his parents "won" and they swept by him and out into the hallway, with the agreement that he would be in the car within the next ten minutes. Maya followed Phillip out into the hallway so that they could say "goodbye."

"That was more entertaining than I expected," Maya said happily, clapping her hands together. "You're really good at acting. Maybe you should rethink your career choice."

Phillip shook his head, but smiled all the same. "Tonight was fun," he agreed. "Hopefully, my parents will think again before entering my name into a matchmaker."

Maya deflated, suddenly remembering that she had two more candidates to meet. "Not me. I've got two more guys within the next two nights. Not fun."

Phillip shook his head. "Well, hopefully, you are as unsuccessful both those nights as you were tonight."

"Hopefully," Maya said with a nod. "And I wish you luck with your girlfriend and your parents. I hope they don't keep making life miserable for you."

He shrugged. "It's not so bad. They care about me, it's just that they're not very good at expressing it." After a moment, he added, "If you're ever in the vicinity of Global Studios, you should stop by. I can get you VIP passes that let you into filming."

"That'd be awesome! I'll bring Nick if I do," Maya said enthusiastically. "Granted, he'll probably die of boredom, but whatever."

"He doesn't like the Samurai shows?" Phillip asked.

Maya shook her head. "He's an old fuddy-duddy. Anyway, you'd better go," she said, pointing down the hallway. "Or else your parents will flip out at you."

Phillip snickered. "Yes, I probably should. Goodbye, Miss Fey."

"Bye!" Maya called after him as he walked down the hallway. When he disappeared from sight, she turned and walked away in search of Phoenix so she could explain what had just happened. As she went, a grin spread over her face, and she began to skip down the hallway, feeling ecstatic.

One candidate down, two more to go.


	9. Busting The Weasel

**I know, I know, this chapter took **_**forever**_** to upload. Sorry to everyone who's been waiting for the next chapter. I kept getting stuck, then unstuck, then stuck again, because a lot of problems cropped up while I was trying to write it. I finally managed to find a way that it all worked out, though. So be happy.**

**This chapter's fun. It includes Psyche-Lock busting, lots of Phoenix, a very brief cameo from one of the original cast members (no, I'm not telling you; you've got to actually **_**read**_** the chapter to figure that one out), and a really bad pun that I made up. (Technically, I stole it from a hotel I saw when I was in the US last year called the AmericInn, but whatever. Feel free to laugh at my terrible name skills.)**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Busting The Weasel**

Trucy was beginning to wonder if their fool-proof plan was so fool-proof after all.

She'd stayed up all night thinking about it, worrying that their whole plan was going to derail. Maya's sudden declaration of elopement had caused certain... _implications _for their whole "keep Maya and Phoenix together" plan. If Phillip's parents hadn't objected, everything could have gone terribly, terribly wrong.

True, they'd gotten rid of the first candidate. He was no longer an option – this left one more standing in their way. If anything even remotely similar to last night happened when Jeffery Ewens showed up, they were toast.

When Trucy saw Apollo the next morning, she dragged him away from the TV (up until that point, he had been wrapped up in a boring courtroom documentary) and related the night's events to him. When she finished, he just shook his head and headed back toward the TV room.

"Why aren't you worried?" Trucy asked indignantly, running after him and grabbing his arm. "Tonight could be disastrous! How dare you be so unconcerned!"

"Calm down, Trucy," Apollo ordered grumpily, pulling free of her grip. "That was just a set up, to get Manella's parents off his back. I overheard her explaining everything to your dad last night. Maya has an annoying tendency to be _really_ loud when people are trying to get to sleep."

Trucy sighed, relieved. "See, this is why I'm glad to have you around," she said, patting him on the arm. "Sometimes, anyway."

"Gee, thanks," Apollo replied sarcastically. As Trucy made to leave, he grabbed her arm and added quietly, "Listen, there's something important I need to tell you. It's about that Ewens guy who's coming tonight."

"Yeah?"

"See, I was trying to look up stuff about him. There seemed to be something wrong with that application he sent in. It seemed kind of suspicious to me."

"When did you see his application?" Trucy asked, ignoring the serious tone in Apollo's voice.

"His was the one I used as a basis for 'Nicholas W.'s' application," he replied, rather impatiently, "but that's not the point. I couldn't find a trace of him anywhere on the Internet – no Facebook, MySpace, nothing. Plus–"

Trucy rolled her eyes, not understanding how Apollo could be so concerned over that. "He might not like social networking sites. Ever think of that?"

Apollo ignored this and continued, "Then I looked him up in the LA phonebook. That's where it said he lived on his file, but I couldn't fine anyone named 'Jeffery Ewens.'"

"Maybe he doesn't have a landline?" Trucy suggested weakly.

Apollo raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, I get your point. It's suspicious," Trucy admitted, raising her hands in defeat. "So, what do you want me to do about it? Keep an eye on him? You _do_ remember that I'm a human lie detector, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm _better_ at perceiving things than you are," Apollo reminded her smugly.

Trucy bristled at this, as his being more skilled at perceiving lies had always been a sore spot with her. "That's only because you have that fancy bracelet-thing! And it doesn't really matter who's better."

"I guess you're right," Apollo conceded, "but I think it's a good idea if we're both on the lookout. That way, if he _is_ lying to us in some way, we're sure to catch him."

"I get the picture. We both keep an eye on Ewens," Trucy said, spotting a problem in their plan, "but what do we do if he lies about something big? We can't just say, 'Hey, we can see your eye twitching! Liar!' It works in court because the judge is too flustered to object, but I think Mai would throw us out on our ears if we said that. And we can't really have that, since I'm posing as Rina Watanabe and all."

Apollo furrowed his brow in concentration. Slowly, as if he was weighing his words carefully, he said, "We can tell Mr. Wright."

"Are you kidding? Mai and the other elders wouldn't listen to a word he said! They think he's a worthless, lying hobo! And no wisecracks," she added sternly, seeing Apollo open his mouth.

"I wasn't going to make a wisecrack," Apollo said innocently.

It was Trucy's turn to raise her eyebrows.

"Okay, fine, maybe I was," he conceded. "But you have to admit he looks like one. Aside from that though, I actually think Mai and the elders would be more likely to listen to him than to us."

"How do you figure that? They hate Daddy – they at least semi-respect you."

Apollo smacked himself on the forehead with his hand. "You know that Maga– Maga– that green thing shaped like the number nine, the one he got from Maya that can detect lies?"

Trucy nodded, not because she actually knew what he was talking about, but mostly because she didn't want to risk Apollo's further exasperation.

"Well, they charge that with power _here_, in Kurain, so that it can detect those lies," Apollo said, very slowly and patiently, as if he were addressing a very stupid child. "If Mr. Wright were to show that Ewens was lying by _using_ that power, the elders would have to listen to him. On the other hand, if we were to point that out with our perceiving abilities, they'd think we were crazy. Do you understand _now_?"

"Oh!" Trucy said, a look of comprehension dawning on her face. "Yeah, I get it!"

"Good," Apollo said, sounding relieved. "But remember, this is only _if_ he lies, okay?"

Trucy nodded eagerly. "Right."

"All right. See you tonight.

"See you."

With that, they went their separate ways, Apollo returning to the TV room, and Trucy thinking about taking a nice, long nap.

—_Maya Fey—_

Maya peered around the corner to see if Jeffery Ewens had arrived yet. All she could see was a crowd around the front door – no since of Mai, Tallia, Watanabe, or her date for the night. She turned around to look at Phoenix, who had escorted her here.

Smiling weakly, she said, "Well, this is it. Again."

Phoenix nodded. "Yeah," he replied, trying to look calm. "But look on the bright side: if the next two nights go as well as they did last night, you'll be home free."

_Yeah, but what about after that? _Maya wondered to herself. _Will Mai give up, or will she make me do it all over again until it finally works out?_

She refused to think about it any further. She would deal with it when the time came. Instead, she asked, "So, what are you going to be doing tonight? Still gonna try to break into Pearly's room."

"_Actually_, no. I thought I'd watch TV or something. Though I'll probably check in on them later." Phoenix paused for a moment, then kissed her and added, "Good luck."

Maya smiled and waited for him to leave, but he stayed put and watched her expectantly. After a moment, she asked, "So. . . are you going to leave, or what?"

"Nope. I'm making sure you don't bolt," he replied cheerfully.

Maya sighed. "You just ruined a perfectly nice moment, you know that?"

Phoenix just grinned at her.

Rolling her eyes, Maya turned and walked around the corner, feeling Phoenix's eyes boring into the back of her head.

The first thing she did when she rounded the corner was catch a glimpse of the guy she was supposed to be dating tonight.

The second thing she did was turn around and walk quickly back around the corner.

The third thing she did was run straight into Phoenix, who hadn't moved an inch in the past five seconds.

"He's here?" Phoenix asked simply.

Maya nodded. "I'm going, I'm going," she said, then reluctantly turned and walked back around the corner, only to be greeted by an obviously-impatient Mai.

"Finally, you're here!" she snapped, grabbing Maya's arm and almost dragging her toward the place where Ewens was standing, surrounded by the other elders. "I was about to go looking for you myself!"

Maya ignored the elder and took a better look at Ewens. He wasn't that tall, maybe a head taller than she was, with close-cropped blond hair, wearing a gray suit and a black tie. His face, long and pallid, faintly resembled a weasel's, and his blue eyes were small and beady, flicking restlessly back and forth. He had a habit of twitching, furthering Maya's first impression of a nervous weasel.

Watanabe, who was standing just behind Ewens, took a step forward and smiled encouragingly at Maya. "Miss Fey, this is Mr. Ewens."

Ewens focussed his attention on Maya, who glared at him, not even bothering to hide her dislike of him. He didn't seem bothered, just nodded to her, smiled, and twitched.

"Well, let's begin!" Mai said, trying to sound cheerful. "To the dining room, then?"

As Mai led the small group away, Maya glanced over her shoulder, half-expecting to see Phoenix looking around the corner. And yet, there was no one there.

Feeling hollow, Maya forced herself to walk down the hallway, not looking forward to the next two hours in the least.

—_Trucy Wright—_

All during dinner, Trucy kept a close watch on Ewens. He didn't seem to be in the mood for talking, but rather shovelled ramen noodles in his mouth at an alarming rate. Maya, who was sitting across from him, hadn't even touched her plate – she too was watching Ewens, though in disgust. The elders were making small talk further down the table, and Trucy could see that Apollo, who had convinced Mai to let him come by saying that he'd always wanted to watch a miai, looked thoroughly bored as he picked at his plate.

After Ewens had cleaned his plate, Trucy saw her chance to possibly ease a lie out of him. Setting her own dinner aside, she asked curiously, "So, Mr. Ewens, what do you do for a living?"

Mai stopped eating, her chopsticks suspended halfway to her mouth. Evidently, she was shocked that the matchmaker, of all people, would forget one of her client's occupations. Trucy knew very well that Ewens owned a "successful" hotel, but she wanted to see for herself whether he had lied on the application.

Ewens didn't look bothered by this question. "I own a four-star hotel in LA," he said smugly, still twitching. "The CalifornInn. Haha. Get it?"

Some of the elders chuckled, but it was more of a polite laughter rather than one borne on actual humour. Trucy, who hadn't noticed anything odd, glanced down the table at Apollo. He was staring at Ewens with a puzzled look on his face that Trucy recognized – the same look he wore in court when he was trying to perceive a lie.

Knowing that Apollo needed Ewens to repeat his remark, Trucy asked again, "I'm sorry, I'm not sure that Mr. Justice heard you." She gestured toward Apollo, who gave an absent-minded wave in Ewens's general direction. "Could you repeat that, please?"

"I said that I own a hotel called the CalifornInn," Ewens repeated, a little louder this time.

Trucy exchanged a glance with Apollo. He shook his head slightly, signalling he hadn't caught any hint of a lie. And yet, he was touching his bracelet, still looking confused.

Mai, who had just noticed Ewens's empty plate, asked him, "Would you like some more ramen?"

Ewens nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I would. I swear, these are some of the best noodles I've ever tasted, or my name isn't Jeffery Ewens."

At this, Apollo's eyes widened, then narrowed as he scrutinized Ewens's face. Trucy, frustrated at her lack of sensitivity to lie perception, wondered what he was thinking. Surely, if he had noticed a liar's sign, then he would have signalled for her to go out in the hallway to talk?

At that moment, Apollo piped up, "May I be excused for a moment? I need to use the–"

Mai waved a hand dismissively, cutting off the rest of his sentence. As Apollo stood up, he raised his eyebrows at Trucy, who understood that he wanted to talk to her. She waited for a few minutes after he left, then asked to be excused as well, under the guise of retrieving some pills for a headache.

Apollo was waiting for her just outside the door. He was rubbing his bracelet, looking distracted. As soon as she closed the door, he said in a hushed voice, "I don't know what the hell is going on with my bracelet. It keeps reacting for no reason."

"When he was talking about the hotel?" Trucy inquired.

He shook his head. "Well, okay, it has been," he admitted. "But as soon as I met him, it's been tightening like crazy. I think it's going to cut off the circulation to my hand."

"Ever since you two were introduced?" she asked, ignoring his last comment.

"Yep," Apollo confirmed. "And I can't tell whether or not he's lying. All he does is twitch, and twitch, and twitch some more. I almost want to say that those twitches are signalling that he's lying, but he does it even when my bracelet doesn't react."

"That's kind of weird. I never noticed anything wrong," Trucy admitted. "Maybe you're bracelet's malfunctioning?"

"I don't think it _can _malfunction," Apollo said, almost defensively. "We need to do something. Find a way to check that he's lying, for sure."

Trucy, having a feeling that she knew what direction this was taking, said slowly, "You want to take Daddy's lie-detecting thing, don't you?"

Apollo wordlessly nodded.

"Well, we'd better go find him and ask," Trucy said firmly, leading the way down the hallway and around the corner.

"Trucy – no, Rina! Hey, wait!" Apollo called after her.

Unfortunately for them, Phoenix was just down the hallway, apparently on his way back from the bathroom. At the sound of Apollo's voice, he looked up and caught sight of Trucy – and instantly, it seemed that he recognized her.

"Trucy? I thought you were sick. And what the heck are you wearing?" he asked, walking down the hallway toward her.

"If your dad sees you, he's going to–" At this point, Apollo ran around the corner, saw Phoenix, then said, "Never mind."

"Aw, crap," Trucy said to herself, realizing what she'd just done.

Phoenix looked first at Trucy, then to Apollo, then back again, his eyebrows knit together in a frown. Trucy waited for that familiar look on his face, the look he got whenever he'd just figured something out, and the reprimand that would go with it.

After a few seconds of silence that felt more like an eternity, Phoenix said, "I'm torn between demanding to know what's going on, or pretending this conversation never happened and walk away."

"I think you should go with option one," Trucy said in a defeated voice, recognizing the fact that her father was going to figure it out sooner or later. He _did_ used to be an ace attorney, after all.

Phoenix gave her a confused look.

"No, he shouldn't," Apollo corrected her, stepping forward and elbowing her in the side.

Trucy gave him a shove. "Yes, he should."

"No, he shouldn't," he retorted, pushing her back.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Okay, I'm leaving," Phoenix said, trying to skirt around their little shoving match. Before he had gone very far, Apollo stepped in front of him and asked, before Trucy could interfere, "Mr. Wright, can we borrow your, um. . . whatever you call that little green thing you have?"

This just made Phoenix even more confused. "What green thing?"

"That thing Maya gave you that helps you figure out when people lie. We need it," Trucy butted in, pushing Apollo to the side.

A look of comprehension dawned on Phoenix's face, to be quickly replaced with one of suspicion. "Why do you need my Magatama? You two don't need it, with that special power of yours."

"See? I told you that he needs to know!" Trucy exclaimed triumphantly. "He won't give it to us unless we tell him what's going on."

"Yes, but then he'll _know_ what's going on, and then the whole plan is out the window!" retorted Apollo, rather impatiently.

"And how else are we supposed to prove that Jeffery Ewens guy is lying?" she shot back, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

Phoenix's eyes widened in recognition at the name. Quickly, he interjected, "Jeffery Ewens? Isn't that the man Maya's supposed to be meeting tonight?"

Trucy nodded energetically.

"And you say that he's lying?" Phoenix pressed.

Again, Trucy nodded.

Phoenix scratched his head in confusion. "So, um. . . how would _you_ know that? I was under the impression you were on your death bed, the way Pearl kept going on and on and on about how I wasn't allowed inside her room to see you. . ."

Trucy scuffed the ground with her shoe. "Yeah, well, we kinda had to lie about that," she said, staring at the floor.

Apollo grabbed Trucy's arm and smiled at Phoenix. "Excuse us for a second," he said, his voice unusually cheerful before he pulled Trucy out of Phoenix's earshot. In a heated whisper, Apollo asked, "What are you doing?"

"Daddy's going to figure it out sooner or later," Trucy replied just as quietly, glancing at her father, who looked utterly bewildered as he stood in the middle of the hallway. "Tomorrow, 'Nick W.' comes to visit, and we're going to have to fill him in on the whole thing anyway so he's not in complete shock when the time comes."

Apollo gave her a strange look.

"What?" Trucy asked, exasperated.

"Nothing, it's just. . ." Apollo tapped his chin for a second, as if trying to think of the right way to phrase what he was thinking. Finally, he finished, "It's just, you actually made sense for once."

Trucy rolled her eyes at this, but taking it as a sign that she had his permission, Trucy walked back to her father. "Listen, Daddy, I haven't been sick at all," she admitted, smiling as innocently and sweetly as she could. "You know how that matchmaker person was supposed to come and destroy yours and Maya's love lives?"

"Um. . . yes," Phoenix replied, looking taken aback at this strange statement.

"Well, I've been impersonating her for the past few days. Our plan was to slip you into the list of candidates without anyone, not even Maya, realizing it was you. We said you were a successful business owner–"

At this point, as if he couldn't let the opportunity pass, Apollo cut in and said, "Obviously, no one would call you a successful business owner."

Phoenix gave him a fierce look. "Hey, remember that I'm the one who signs your paycheck," he replied sternly.

Apollo nodded meekly and shut up, obviously worried that he was going to have a cut to his pudding salary.

Trucy coughed and continued, "_Well_, anyway, we managed to get Maya to pick you as the final candidate she was going to meet. After that, we kind of hoped that the other guys she was going to meet would be total creeps or something. Thankfully, neither Maya nor Phillip wanted to take it any further, but we're not so sure about this Ewens guy."

"Yeah. I tried to look him up online, then on the phonebook. No luck," Apollo piped up, a little more seriously this time. "Then, while we were eating in the dining room, my bracelet kept reacting, but I couldn't see him lying. He twitches a lot, so it's hard to tell if it's a liar's sign or just normal twitches that my bracelet's reacting to. It went really crazy when he said he owned this hotel called the CalifornInn, and even crazier when he said that his name was Jeffery Ewens, though."

Phoenix's brow was furrowed, evidently thinking this over. After a pause, he said slowly, "So you want to borrow my Magatama, just to make sure that he really _is_ lying, and to prove it to the elders?"

Both Trucy and Apollo nodded.

Phoenix let out a sigh and shook his head. "I'm in," he said. "I'll go get the Magatama, but on two conditions. First, you tell Pearl that I know you're really not sick. There's something I want to ask her, but every time I try to talk to her, she pretends she can't hear me. Second, you let me break Ewens if he's got Psyche-Locks."

Trucy and Apollo exchanged confused looks, only having a faint idea what he meant by "psyche-locks." After all, their knowledge of the Magatama and its powers (except for the whole lie-detecting part) was limited.

Phoenix shrugged. "I haven't done a whole lot with my Magatama since I finished investigating Kristoph Gavin," he explained, mistaking what their confusion was about. "I need my fun."

"Well, I guess that's fair," Trucy conceded. "Apollo and I had better get back to the dining room. Come by with the Magatama, okay? It's time to bust a weasel."

—

A few minutes later, when Trucy and Apollo had long since returned to the dining room, there was a knock on the door. Everyone looked up from their plates, surprised as the door opened and Phoenix walked into the room. When he saw the group of people sitting around the table, Phoenix's eyebrows shot up so high that they almost disappeared beneath his hat, and he said, "Sorry, I thought this was the door to the kitchen. This place is like a maze."

Maya smiled, though she looked a bit confused as to why Phoenix was here and why he'd gotten lost, after spending almost a week here without getting lost. "Hey, Nick," she greeted him, trying to force herself to sound cheerful.

Mai, on the other hand, gave Phoenix a dirty look. "Well, head off to the kitchen, then," she said, rather rudely.

Ewens was staring at Phoenix, scrutinizing him carefully. "Who's this?" he asked politey.

Tallia stepped in here, saying, "Mr. Ewens, this is Mr. Wright. He's just visiting for thbis week. Perhaps you've heard of him? He used to be quite the defence attorney."

At this, Ewens's eyes went wide. "P-P-Phoenix Wright?" he stuttered, beginning to twitch violently.

Phoenix blinked. "Yes, that's right," he said. "You've heard of me?"

"Y-Yeah. Who hasn't?" Ewens replied, giving a nervous laugh. "The Forgin' Attorney, right?"

Trucy saw Mai give Ewens a very approving look at this statement, while Maya looked as if it took considerable restraint for her not to fly across the table and tackle him. Phoenix, on the other hand, didn't react to this insult – instead, he asked Ewens, "And you would be. . .?"

"Jeffery Ewens, owner of the CalifornInn," Ewens replied snidely.

By the way Phoenix's hand went to his hoodie pocket, Trucy had a feeling that they'd just struck gold. However, the next thing he did was very bizarre. He turned to Mai and pulled a nine-shaped object out of his pocket. Handing it to the elder, he said, "By the way, I found this lying in the hallway. I think it's yours." Then, quickly, before Mai could try to return the object – the Magatama, Trucy realized – Phoenix added, "So, you own the CalifornInn?"

"Yes," Ewens answered with yet another twitch, evidently thinking that Phoenix was incredibly slow.

"Mr. Wright, this isn't–" Mai tried to say, but then she stopped, staring at Ewens in shock. Everyone turned to look at her, all with varying degrees of confusion on their faces at her sudden silence.

"You saw it just now, didn't you? The Psyche-Locks?" Phoenix asked her quietly, pointing in Ewens's direction. "I'm sorry for the lie, but that Magatama's actually mine. . . though I think you'll forgive me when you find out the truth about him."

Maya looked at Phoenix, then at Mai, then at Ewens. After a moment, she asked, "How many?"

"One," Mai replied quietly, staring blankly at Ewens. "Just the one."

Trucy and Apollo exchanged confused looks – it seemed that they, along with Ewens (who seemed to be twitching more than usual now), were the only ones in the room who didn't know what was going on. The other elders were nodding, eyeing the Magatama, or staring at the empty space in front of Ewens's face, as if they could see these mysterious Psyche-Locks.

Phoenix glared at Ewens as he said, "I recognized your name from around nine years ago. It was on a list of con-artists, taken off the phone of another con-artist, Richard Wellington."

Maya's mouth popped open. "I remember that case!" she exclaimed. "That's the one where Maggey's boyfriend was killed, wasn't it? And that Wellington guy was convicted of killing him, right?"

Phoenix nodded in reply, though he didn't look away from Ewens. "Now, the cops got most of the men and women in the con-artist ring that Wellington was affiliated with. But there were a couple of people on that list who were smart and didn't use their real names. One of them was this 'Jeffery Ewens.' The detectives thought that he probably only used the name when he was defrauding someone, or so I was told by a. . . well, pal on the force."

Ewens shook his head. "You're crazy," he said. "Psyche-Locks, accusing _me_ of being a con-artist. . . what's wrong with you people?"

Everyone ignored him. They were too absorbed in what Phoenix was saying, even Mai, who seemed to have come out of her shock. "I looked this all up earlier today, because I'd heard your name and recognized it immediately," Phoenix continued, now reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cell phone. "According to the court records, this 'Jeffery Ewens' was never caught. And then, because I knew that you owned a hotel called the CalifornInn, I ran it through about three different search engines. No hits. No results out of the phone book. Seems like it doesn't exist, huh?"

Slowly, Phoenix dialled a number, then waited. Trucy, expecting him to have called 911, was surprised when a cell phone rang, piercing the silence. Suddenly, Ewens looked very panicked, and his hand went straight for his pocket.

Phoenix actually looked surprised that the phone had rang. "Huh. I thought I'd forgotten the number."

Apollo shook his head. "Mr. Wright, you have an amazing memory," he said in awe.

Mai stared at Ewens. "The Psyche-Lock broke," she announced. Then, turning to Phoenix, she ordered sternly, "You'd better call the police."

—_Maya Fey_—

An hour and a half later, two detectives led the handcuffed Ewens out of the Fey Manor and into a waiting cop car. Mai had been yelling at Watanabe all during that time, blaming her for _daring_ to be fooled by a con-artist, even though she'd done the exact same thing.

Maya, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She watched from the doorstep next to Phoenix and Detective Gumshoe, who'd come along to help out with the arrest.

"Thanks a bunch, pal!" Gumshoe said for the umpteenth time, pumping Phoenix's hand violently. "We've been looking for this guy for a long time!"

Phoenix grimaced and managed to wrest his hand free of Gumshoe's grip. "No problem, Gumshoe," he said. "No problem at all."

Maya smiled at the detective. "It's great to see you again, Gumshoe," she said cheerfully.

"Same, pal," Gumshoe replied with a grin. "Well, I've got to head back to the precinct with this guy. He's one of the last from that list we got off the creep who killed Maggey's boyfriend. Stop by sometime, you two!"

"Right. See you!" Maya said, waving at Gumshoe was he got into the police cruiser. As it began to make its way back to LA, Maya turned to Phoenix and asked, "Listen, something's been bugging me this whole time. Why would that creep bother to enter his name in for the miai?"

"Well, Kurain's starting to make a comeback, so you're getting a lot more money now, right?" Phoenix said, a smirk on his face that he'd figured it out and she hadn't. "He's probably heard of Kurain at some point or another, and decided it would make a great opportunity to get some cash. Maybe he was hoping the two of you'd end up married, and then he'd run off with a good deal of money, which would be why he'd generate the lie about his owning a hotel, and why he'd use his con-artist alias. Just a theory, though."

Maya shook her head. "This has been a crazy night," she admitted, "but on the bright side, this means I've only got one more guy I've got to deal with! Then the torture will be over."

At this, Phoenix let out a snort.

Hurt, Maya asked, "What was that for?"

Phoenix just shook his head. "Don't worry too much about the final candidate. I've got a feeling _that_ match-up is going to work out."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Maya asked bewilderedly. "I thought you were on my side!"

Phoenix grinned and kissed her on the top of the head. "You'll find out. . . tomorrow night," he promised, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Maya sighed. She wanted to press him for more details, but she knew that he wouldn't give her any more details. "Fine, Mr. Know-It-All," she said. "Let's go inside."

* * *

**. . . Holy shit, 5k? That ended up to be a lot longer than I'd expected. O_O**

**So, we only have one chapter left. On the one hand, yay, and on the other hand, it kind of sucks. :( But on the bright side, the next chapter includes Mai ownage and physical violence. Can't get much better than that. XD**


	10. The Grand Finale

**Stefan-sama: In all honesty, the Wellington connection was more of an accident than anything. XD Ewens was always a con-artist in my mind, but when I was writing the chapter, I remembered 2-1 and was like, "Hey! Let's randomly throw in a connection to that guy no one remembers, just for fun!"**

**zlknirpsx5: Nope, I use Corel. I just have a habit of making really stupid typos (and I mean really, really stupid), and grammar's not my strong point due to the fact my English teachers have not yet been able to get my classmates past the concept that you need to start sentences with capital letters, so I've basically had to teach myself everything else. -nod-**

**Wabi: -fixes mistake- As for Phoenix not really mentioning Dustin. . . um, can we pretend that I thought the chapter was too long already and deliberately left that out? (Read: Completely forgot about mentioning that. Oops.)**

**So, I did my best to get this out as fast as I could, but I was distracted by two things: 1. A barrage of schoolwork, and 2. The Stanley Cup playoffs. -is a stereotypical Canadian- But I didn't make you guys wait **_**too **_**long for the final chapter – and here it is. Read on. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**The Grand Finale**

The next morning, Fey Manor was abuzz with conversation, all concerning the events of last night. Since only the elders, Maya, Apollo, Trucy/Rina, and Phoenix had been present during Ewens's breakdown, rumours had spread and exploded into wild tales, including a very amusing one in which Ewens was apparently a serial killer who had threatened Maya with a knife before being tackled and disarmed by Phoenix and Apollo.

Trucy was pleased with how things had gone the night before. She'd known that she could count on her father – but she hadn't known how awesome to would be to watch him crack a criminal. She also knew that she could rest easy for the remainder of the day, knowing that there was nothing she could do until tonight, where she'd need to do some fast-talking if this whole plan was going to work out. For the time being, though, Trucy decided she was just going to relax.

However, she hadn't counted on Mai's anger in her plans to take it easy.

Trucy was looking for Pearl to explain the truth about what happened last night when Mai found her, looking furious. "Miss Watanabe, we need to talk."

Every medium within hearing had stopped dead, turning to watch as Mai stalked up to Trucy, arms crossed, giving her the most venomous glare that she'd ever seen in her life, stopping only when she was standing about two feet away from Trucy.

"What kind of matchmaker do you call yourself?" she asked, her voice considerably loud considering how close together they were standing. "First, you do your job _much _too well, and then one of the candidates you interviewed and later recommended to us is a _con-artist?_ You aren't worth the money we paid you."

Trucy returned Mai's glare with just as much venom. She was ticked off for two reasons: First, she hadn't chosen _any _of the candidates, only slipped in a profile for Phoenix at the last minute, and second, she wasn't even getting _paid_ for this. Trucy opened her mouth to tell her just that, but remembered just in time that she couldn't blow her cover, especially not now. If she did, their plan would just implode, and they'd be back to square one.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Trucy finally replied as nicely as she could manage, "These things very rarely work out on the first couple of tries. Besides, there's one more candidate for you to meet, Nick W. He seems like a respectable fellow, doesn't he?"

Mai, caught off guard by this reply, blinked a couple of times, apparently wondering why she hadn't managed to get a rise out of Trucy. After a few seconds, she finally said, "Yes, I suppose so. What is he, a business owner?"

"A _successful_ business owner," Trucy corrected her with a smile. "Very responsible, too. I'm sure that Miss Fey will be... _pleased_ when she meets him."

Mai just stood there, unsure of what to say and how to say it. Trucy waited for a reply, still smiling – out of the corner of her eye, she saw that a ring of curious mediums had formed around them, dead silent as they watched the rare sight of a speechless Mai.

Finally, the elder turned and walked away, the mediums parting to let her past.

Trucy rolled her eyes and continued on, continuing to look for Pearl.

About five minutes later, she saw Phoenix and Pearl chatting outside the Winding Way, Pearl apparently on her way to the Meditation Room for morning training. She glanced over her shoulder, then, satisfied that no one was within earshot, drew up to them and asked in a low voice, "Does she know that you know?"

Phoenix nodded. "I told her everything. I hear you ran into Mai? She walked into the Meditation Room a couple of minutes ago looking stunned."

"She was trying to rile me up," Trucy explained, "but I just kept calm, and then she was kind of lost. It was funny, really."

Pearl grinned, then said in a business-like sort of way, "Well, tonight's the grande finale. Do we have all the last-minute details down? What are you going to say when all the elders see Mr. Nick, and how's 'Rina' going to leave Kurain without actually leaving? You can't just get on a train and leave."

"Elder Tallia's going to tell them that I left on one of the night trains, when everyone was asleep," Trucy explained. "I asked her last night, when that detective guy was taking away Ewens."

"Wait, _Tallia_ knows about this too? Did you tell _everyone_ except me?" Phoenix interrupted, looking a bit left out.

"Only you, me, Pearl, Apollo, and Tallia know," Trucy reassured him. "Oh, and Rina, but she's back in Japan now, so she technically doesn't count."

Phoenix looked a bit confused, but apparently, he didn't want to ask any further questions to find out how they'd gotten Rina to return home – which, Trucy decided, was a pretty smart move on his part. "Well, you didn't answer Pearls's first question. What are you going to say when they realize _I'm_ Nick W.?"

"Oh, I've got _that_ all planned out," Trucy said, suddenly very energetic. "I'm going to say that you're already here and you've been waiting for half an hour, lead them to the dining room, open the door, let them see you, and wait for all hell to break loose."

"Joy," Phoenix said, rolling his eyes.

Trucy stared off into space, thinking blissfully about tonight. She actually had it all better planned out than she'd let on – she had a whole long, inspiring speech ready to confront Mai with – and she ran through the scene one more time in her head, her smile widening with each passing moment.

Phoenix's next question, while not directed at Trucy, snapped her out of her daze, and she listened as he asked, "So, _why_ can't you channel Mia for Maya? You can't deny she needs a pick-me-up."

"Mystic Maya told me I can't go around channelling spirits just to help people solve their problems," Pearl explained, sounding as if she'd memorized her speech almost word-for-word. "She says that it's not fair to the dead to be constantly bothering them with problems that aren't their own, and because most people don't have our powers, we shouldn't abuse them for such a reason."

At this, Phoenix looked at her in confusion and asked, "If that's the case, why did you channel Mia for me at the Gatewater in November?"

"Well. . . Mr. Nick, to be honest, you needed all the help you could get then," Pearl said, a little apologetically.

Trucy snorted while Phoenix just stood there, unsure how to reply to this.

"Anyway, I've got to head into the Meditation Room," added Pearl. "Bye Tru–Miss Watanabe, Mr. Nick."

"I'd better get going too," Trucy said as Pearl walked away. "See you."

Phoenix nodded, and Trucy began to walk back to her room, running through her speech once again, knowing that tonight, she'd need all the preparation she could get.

—_Maya Fey—_

Even after the initial shock of finding out that Ewens had been a fraud, Maya still couldn't believe her luck. After all, what were the odds that Ewens had been a member of the exact same con-artist ring as Richard Wellington (who she'd completely forgotten about until Phoenix had brought it up last night), and that _he_ was one of the men she'd been matched up with?

Not that it was such a bad thing. Now that she'd made it through two miais and both had failed, she was beginning to become a bit more optimistic that tonight wouldn't work out, too.

But then again, there was what Phoenix had said last night...

That was her only remaining doubt, constantly drifting into her thoughts as she tried to concentrate on morning training. What had _he_ meant, he had a feeling that everything would work out? Did he mean that things would work out in _her_ favour (like Nick W. being a psychotic serial killer, or at the very least too much of a jerk for Mai or the other elders to accept him)? Or did he mean that things would go in the very opposite direction?

Maya wasn't sure what he'd meant – knowing him, he could have meant either one.

_How does he even know that things are going to work out anyway? _Maya asked herself, finally giving up on her training and contenting herself to just sit there and pretend. _Unless he's psychic or something. . . nah. That's dumb. He probably just said that to mess with my head._

At that moment, she felt someone shaking her shoulder. Maya opened her eyes and looked up – Tallia had her hand on her shoulder, looking rather concerned.

"Mystic Maya? Morning training's over."

Maya blinked and looked around. The Meditation Room, which had moments ago been full of meditating mediums, was now deserted.

"When did everyone leave?" she asked, standing up and wincing – after hours of sitting in the same position, her legs were sore and stiff.

"Ten minutes ago. I didn't see you trying to sneak extra food in the kitchen like you normally do, so I came back here, just in case." Tallia stood up as well, dusting off her robe, and added, "Thinking, were you?"

Maya nodded reluctantly.

"About tonight?"

Again, Maya nodded.

"Well, if you're worrying, there's no need. Things will work out," Tallia reassured her, giving her an encouraging smile.

Maya sighed. "That's what Nick said, too," she complained. "How do you two _know_? Is there some secret you guys are keeping from me?"

Tallia ignored Maya's last statement and said, rather thoughtfully, "Mr. Wright said that, did he?"

"Yeah, last night, after Ewens got hauled away by Detective Gumshoe," Maya replied, noticing the odd expression on Tallia's face. "Why?"

Again, Tallia ignored her, examining her fingernails with false interest.

"Fine, don't tell me," Maya said, rolling her eyes and sighing dramatically. "You're as bad as Nick."

"Thank you, I think," replied Tallia with a grin, walking over to the door. Over her shoulder, she added, "I think it's time for both of us to get something to eat, don't you think?"

Maya's stomach suddenly growled loudly, and realizing just how hungry she was, she nodded eagerly and followed Tallia out of the room, happily anticipating the three cheeseburgers she was going to be stuffing into her face within the next five minutes.

—

For the third night in a row, Maya waited with the elders and some of the other mediums near the front door. Even Pearl, who'd asked to have her grounding lifted tonight so that she could meet Nick W., was there, waiting silently with Maya. As evening had drawn nearer, Maya's nerves had returned despite Phoenix's and Tallia's assurances, and butterflies were fluttering in her stomach as she waited for Nick W.'s arrival. For some reason, Rina Watanabe hadn't shown up for the usual stake-out – maybe she was running late, Maya decided.

Around a quarter after six – fifteen minutes past the time that Nick. W was _supposed_ to show up – Watanabe came running down the hallway, her face flushed and breathing heavily. Maya's eyebrows rose as she watched Watanabe come to a stop and lean against the wall for a moment to catch her breath – after a minute, she managed to say through deep breaths, "I'm sorry, everybody. Our guest for this evening–"

_Won't show up, won't show up, won't show up... _Maya thought to herself with her fingers crossed.

"–has been waiting in the dining room for the past twenty minutes," gasped Watanabe.

Maya's heart plummeted.

"He's already here?" one of the elders – Maya wasn't sure who – asked skeptically. "We didn't see anyone come in."

"Well, it's definitely Nick W. in the dining room," Watanabe maintained stubbornly, catching her breath and straightening up. "Let's go."

Without waiting for a reply, Watanabe trotted back the way she had come – after a second's hesitation, the large group followed her, Maya and Pearl bringing up the rear.

"I was really hoping he was going to be a no-show," Maya admitted to her cousin under her breath.

Pearl smiled. "Well, it's kind of hard for him to not show up," she replied just as quietly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Pearl didn't reply, quickened her pace, and disappeared within the knot of people in front of Maya.

Maya let out a huge sigh. _Can't _anyone_ give me a straight answer anymore? _she wondered.

A moment later, they were standing outside the closed door of the dining room, Watanabe's hand on the doorknob. Maya couldn't see very well through the crowd in front of her, but she could see Watanabe as, with a great flourish, she swung the door open and gestured for everyone to go inside.

The crowd shuffled along a few steps, but then, suddenly, everyone stopped in silence, and Maya ended up bumping into Tallia by accident. Mumbling an apology, Maya stood up on tiptoe to try to see what was going on, but even then, she was too short to see more than a bunch of heads. Sighing in exasperation, she began to push her way through the silent crowd, elbowing those who didn't get out of her way.

Finally, the only person that stood in her way was Mai, and Maya gave her an unnecessarily-sharp elbow to the side to get her to move. Maya broke free of the crowd...

And saw Phoenix standing next the table, grinning at her.

She stopped dead, momentarily stunned by his unexpected appearance. Then, the following thoughts started firing through her head:

_Nick W._

_Phoenix Wright._

_Phoenix Wright = Nick W._

_God, I'm stupid._

"Nick!" Maya cried excitedly, throwing herself at him and kissing him.

"What's the meaning of this, Watanabe?" asked Mai angrily, all politeness out the window. Maya pulled away and looked around – Mai and Watanabe were standing practically nose-to-nose, glaring at each other. "This isn't what we hired you to do!"

"Actually, this is _exactly _what I was hired to do," Watanabe replied coldly, folding her arms over her chest. "My job was to find the best match for Miss Fey, and that's exactly what I've done."

"The whole point of this enterprise was to get the two of them _away _from each other!" Mai spat angrily. "Don't you know who this man _is_?"

"Give me a sec," Phoenix mumbled to Maya, then walked over to the two women. "Elder Mai, with all due respect," he said, very politely considering that she'd spent his whole visit here insulting him, "you're being unreasonable. It has been proven that I am not to blame for the falsified evidence, and it's a waste of everyone's time for you to continue to refute this fact."

"Yeah, Nick's right!" Maya agreed, deciding that she might as well enter the fray as well. "There's no difference between him and the man in the file a few days ago."

Pearl, standing near the front of the crowd, pushed her way to the little circle that had formed in the dining room and added, "You were perfectly fine with Nick W. before you realized who it was!"

Mai turned to look at Pearl and, disturbingly, the looks of anger on their faces matched perfectly. Beginning to get a bit nervous, Maya muttered, "Uh, Pearly, maybe you should. . ."

"If I had known who 'Nick W.' was, or that Miss Watanabe had engaged in this ridiculous conspiracy, I would _never_ have agreed to this!" Mai shouted at Pearl.

"You were the one who had suggested this in the first place!" Pearl yelled back, pounding her fist into her hand.

"Don't talk back to an elder!" Mai exclaimed, clearly taken aback that the normally soft-spoken girl had actually yelled at her.

Maya saw Pearl draw her fist back and dove toward her younger cousin to stop her, but she was too late. With surprising velocity and strength, she punched Mai right in the gut.

Everyone gasped as Mai tottered over backward, holding her stomach, her face as white as chalk. Pearl's hand flew to her mouth as she stared at what she had just done to the formidable elder, her face almost as pale as Mai's.

Yet another person pushed their way through the crowd. Apollo, who had apparently arrived a bit late, looked around the room with a mixed expression of curiosity and confusion on his face. Finally, shrugging his shoulders, he walked over to one of the chairs and dragged it over so that Mai could sit down and catch her breath. Mai collapsed into it, still holding her stomach, and stared blankly at the floor.

"Pearls," Phoenix said sternly, "I appreciate the fact that you're trying to support us, but physical violence doesn't solve any problems. Okay?"

Pearl nodded, wide-eyed.

"What did I miss?" Apollo asked no one in particular. "Or do I even want to know?"

"You probably don't want to know," Tallia said. During the confusion, she had made her way to the front of the crowd and was surveying the scene with great interest. "However, since you'd be utterly lost otherwise, suffice it to say that Nick W. is actually Mr. Wright, and Pearl has shown us that she has a great future as a boxer."

Apollo let out a sigh. "This place is crazy," he announced to the room at large, leaning against the table.

Mai straightened up a little in her chair, glaring at the knot of women standing in the doorway. "Well, my fellow elders," she said, in an effort to save some face, "what do you think of this?"

Immediately, any of the women who weren't elders scattered, leaving six women, including Tallia, behind. Maya stared at Mai (who seemed to be deliberately ignoring her gaze), feeling the colour draining out of her face. So it was back to this, the elders making all of her decisions for her, not allowing her to have her say?

"What do you mean, what do you think of this?" Watanabe demanded.

"What I mean is this: Do we allow Mystic Maya and the Forging Attorney to marry, sullying the reputation of Kurain Village forever, or do we stop this once and for all?" Mai asked, looking at each elder with a long, hard stare before turning to the next. When her eyes met Tallia's, Maya swore that the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

Pearl pushed back her sleeve in a rather threatening manner, but Apollo shook his head vigorously at her. Pearl pulled her sleeve back down, clearly annoyed.

Tallia stepped forward now, turning her back to Mai so that she could address the other elders. "My fellow elders, this is not our decision to make," Tallia began, her voice quiet but full of power. "This council has not acted properly for many years. When Mystic Maya was named as the new Master, we abused our powers by threatening her into agreeing with _our_ wants. She has yet to have made a decision of her own since becoming the Master. This, arguably, is the greatest decision of her life, and as such, I feel we should abstain from a vote. It is not the council's role to control the Master's personal life, no matter how much certain people wish it were so."

At this, the elders began murmuring amongst themselves – Maya wasn't sure, but by the sound of things, they seemed to be agreeing with Tallia.

Mai stood up now, standing elbow-to-elbow with Tallia. "_I_ feel that the council should indeed vote on this matter," she argued, glaring at her ex-supporters. "This is not completely part of the Master's personal life – aligning with a man with a reputation of forgery does not reflect well on Kurain Village, and may harm the recovery we are currently making."

Mai drew a breath, ready to say more, but Maya, suddenly overwhelmed with anger, interrupted her, "You know what? Tallia's right. You guys have just been bullying me into agreeing with you, and I am sick and tired of it. And you know what? I don't care if you guys vote or not on this, because Nick and I are getting married anyway."

And with that, Maya turned back to Phoenix and kissed him long and hard.

There was long, dead silence until finally, Maya and Phoenix broke apart. Phoenix blinked, apparently lost, then finally muttered, "Weirdest. Marriage proposal. _Ever_."

Maya grinned and nodded.

Someone started clapping at that moment – Maya thought it was Watanabe – and soon, everyone except Mai (who looked like she'd been hit by a bus) was applauding. There was even a cheer from the mediums who had deserted earlier, who had apparently just been hiding in the hallway.

"Let's celebrate!" someone called, and almost everyone wandered off, leaving Maya, Phoenix, Watanabe, Pearl, and Apollo in the room.

Watanabe waited as the last person walked out, then closed the door and turned to face Maya. Beaming, she said, in a very familiar voice, "Yay! It worked!"

Maya's mouth dropped open. "_Trucy_?" she asked incredulously.

Trucy ripped off her wig and threw it aside. "Yep! I'm surprised you didn't figure it out earlier!"

"I thought you kind of looked familiar. . . Jeez, you're a good actor." Maya looked from Trucy to Apollo to Pearl, then back again. "Were all three of you in on this?"

"Yeah. And Elder Tallia, and Mr. Wright as of last night," Apollo added, smiling despite himself.

Maya plopped down in the seat that Mai had vacated moments before, still in shock. "This is insane," she said, shaking her head. "Just insane."

"I dunno. I thought it was kind of fun," Trucy said with a shrug. "Though it would have been nice if you guys had let me finish my speech. I had it all planned out perfectly, and then _Daddy_ had to jump in. . ."

"Oh, suck it up," Apollo told her bluntly. "You should be happy that your plan even worked. I still don't know how that happened with all the problems that kept popping up."

Trucy and Pearl each whacked him at the exact same time, resulting in a yelp of pain from Apollo. Then, as if nothing had happened, Trucy turned to Pearl and asked, "You know what this means, now that Daddy and Maya are getting married?"

"No, what?" Pearl asked.

"We're going to be adopted first cousins once removed!" Trucy exclaimed excitedly.

"Yay!"

Apollo rolled his eyes. "You guys have a short attention span."

Phoenix coughed. "_Anyway_, I'm _glad_ your plan worked out," he said appreciatively, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Maya. "Do me a favour though; next time you try to pull something like this, could you let us _know_ beforehand? It's kind of nice not to have it sprung up on you all of a sudden like that."

"I second that," Maya agreed fervently. "And anyway, what exactly _was_ your plan, besides the fact you were trying to keep us together?"

While Trucy, Pearl, and Apollo launched into an explanation and fought over the details, with Phoenix to randomly interject, "You did _what_?" Maya sat there, almost laughing herself sick as they explained how they'd had to lock the real Rina Watanabe in a closet and at the thought of Apollo trying to impersonate the matchmaker.

When they finished their explanation, Maya said, "Thanks for everything. You guys are awesome."

"No problem, Mystic Maya," Pearl replied.

"Yeah. It was the least we could do," agreed Trucy. "I mean, we couldn't just sit back and watch Elder Mai destroy your relationship, right? Besides, you didn't need a matchmaker anyway – it's kind of obvious that you two are meant to be."

"Aw," Apollo said sarcastically. "That was so corny, I think I might puke."

Phoenix shrugged and looked sideways at Maya. "I think she's got a point," he said.

For what felt like the first time in a long time, Maya smiled. "I do too," she agreed happily. "I do too."

* * *

**Anyone who doubts that adopted cousins once-removed exist should see my family tree. I have so many adopted cousins x-times removed it's not even funny. (I'm technically not related to a quarter of my family. Ironically, they are the only part of my family that has family reunions, and I'm forced to go to them. Go figure.)**

**So, that's the final chapter, which means I've officially finished my Maya/Phoenix writing spree. It's kind of sad for me because these two fics were so much fun to write. I'm not planning on writing Maya/Phoenix again, or at least not for a while (I desperately need a break – seriously, it's been a year and a half since I started Overdue). Though if you're interested, I also just published a new fic about Diego. It's called Masks. Read it?**

**-crickets-**

**. . . There's Mia x Diego in it later on?**

**-more crickets-**

**-coughs-**_** Anyway**_**, thanks to all the readers, especially those who took the time to review, fave it, and/or alert it. You guys rock for putting up with my terribly inconsistent updates. Special thanks to anyone who corrected my mistakes or gave me ideas, either directly or indirectly. :)**

**~S.A.**


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